Lives Well Lived
by jim1195
Summary: It is said that great men will define the times in which they live, rather than be defined by them. In a time defined by greed, violence, and the machinations of evil men, can anyone truly remain uncorrupted? Ahsoka Tano lived in such a time, and she walked in the shadows of the men who would define it most. But this is her story, the story of a young woman and the man she loved.
1. Prologue

Premise note: This begins sometime after the Mon Calamari arc at the beginning of Season 4, roughly two years into the Clone Wars. I operate mainly by the pre-2014 EU (Legends), so readers only familiar with _TCW_ may encounter references to events, people, etc. that they do not recognize. See author's notes for further detail.

Prologue

"I told you this was a bad idea!" Ahsoka yelled to her master as she narrowly avoided another blaster bolt.

"You think all my ideas are bad, but they usually work!" Anakin replied in his usual cocky tone, stopping for a second to fling a piece of scrap metal back at their pursuers with the Force.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes as she thought about the events that had led to their current situation. Anakin had volunteered them for a mission to locate and destroy a possible Separatist munitions plant Republic Intel thought was hidden on Karazak in the Outer Rim. It had initially gone well, with them avoiding the local slavers long enough to find and infiltrate the facility. Unfortunately, they had, as Ahsoka had pointed out, no idea as to the layout of the plant and had quickly gotten lost in the access shafts. When they had finally found what looked like a good place to plant charges, an overseer droid had noticed them and raised the alarm.

"It doesn't matter if they normally work, only one has to fail for us to end up dead!"

"Have some faith in me, snips, I have them right where I want them." Anakin said, causing Ahsoka to roll her eyes again. Sometimes he even got on _her_ nerves.

The two Jedi rounded another corner, only to find a dead end.

"Great, now were trapped." Ahsoka said as Anakin stared intently at the bare rock.

She looked around for an entrance into a maintenance shaft or an air vent, but the corridor they'd turned down was newly excavated, and the rock was all there was.

"Hands up, Jedi!" said the reedy voice of a Rodian behind them "Turn around slowly and drop your weapons."

Anakin surprised Ahsoka by doing as the voice had commanded, throwing his lightsaber to the ground as he turned to face their pursuers and motioned for her to do the same. She did and found herself facing at least a company of battle droids and about a dozen mercenaries, including the Rodian that had addressed them.

Giving Anakin her best 'I told you so' look, she said "Yea, right where you want them."

"Don't worry, this is all part of the plan." He responded, still smiling smugly.

Aggravated by his apparent lack of concern Ahsoka screamed "What do you mean this is part of…!"

"Ahsoka! Get down!" Anakin yelled before she could finish, dropping to the ground and yanking her down with him.

An explosion rocked the corridor, bringing down a significant chunk of the ceiling on the lead mercenaries and droids in a storm of dust and debris. Before the rest could recover from the shock of the collapse, blasterfire began pouring out of the gap in the roof of the tunnel, cutting down the droids and sending the remaining mercenaries into full retreat back the way they came.

As the dust began to settle, Ahsoka saw a squad of camouflaged Advanced Recon Force troopers repel into the tunnel. The first group set off in pursuit of the fleeing mercs, with the following group moving to aid her and Anakin.

"Are you all right, ma'am?" A trooper asked as he knelt down to help her up.

"Thank you, trooper, I'm fine." Ahsoka responded, then spat to get the taste of dust out of her mouth. She tried to wipe some of the dust off her clothes as she stood, but only succeeded in spreading the black residue around.

"General."

Ahsoka looked up to see another trooper walking toward her and Anakin, different in that he wore what looked like regular infantry armor with a few additive armor plates and visored helmet in the same camouflage pattern as the others, as well as the kama which marked him as an officer.

"Colonel." Anakin said, clearly familiar with the trooper. "What took you so long?"

"That map you gave me is a few centuries old. Cave system's change, you know."

Even through the helmet's filters, his voice sounded different from the other troopers, with an accent entirely different from the one most of the clones had, and the pitch was lower. On top of that, Ahsoka wasn't aware of any clones who rated colonel…

"Anyway, it looks like we got here just in time." The colonel continued as he stopped in front of the two Jedi. "Those clankers had you…"

It wasn't until the colonel's voice trailed off that Ahsoka realized she was staring. Worse than that, he'd noticed and was now staring back at her through his helmet's visor. Embarrassed, she quickly looked away, and Anakin interjected before the colonel could say anything about it.

"Colonel, have you met my padawan, Ahsoka Tano?" The elder Jedi asked as he stepped in between the two.

"I've heard stories," He started, then paused to remove his helmet before continuing. "but no, I don't believe I've had the pleasure."

Ahsoka had been right, the colonel wasn't a clone, though he was similar enough that most non-humans might confuse him for one. Underneath the helmet was a young, light skinned human male with close-cut black hair and brown eyes, his jaw squarer and nose narrower in a way that would make him stand apart from the troopers in the eyes of anyone used to identifying the subtle differences between human facial structures.

"Ahsoka, this is Colonel Marczak, 501st Legion." Anakin said as Col. Marczak extended his hand towards her.

"501st?" She questioned as she shook the hand he had offered. Ahsoka had thought she'd met every officer attached to legion she'd served with for years, but Col. Marczak was entirely unfamiliar to her.

"Advanced Recon Battalion." Marczak said, then clarified when her expression remained blank. "I'm in charge of the ARF troopers, so I usually operate independently of the rest of the legion."

"Oh." Ahsoka said, resolving to ask Rex more about this recon battalion, and its CO, later.

The troopers who had pursued the mercenaries into the facility returned, with one breaking off to report to Marczak.

"Ma'am, sirs." The trooper said, saluting the three officers as he approached. "We have neutralized the remaining hostiles and set demolition charges."

Marczak turned to face the trooper, returning his salute. "Excellent, sergeant. Get the boys together, we're done here."

The colonel turned back to the two Jedi, looking particularly pleased with himself, or, more likely, with his men's efficiency. Once again donning his helmet, Marczak gestured toward the opening in the roof of the tunnel he and his men had entered through.

"That's probably our best way out." He said. "Route's a little confusing, but we dropped a few markers on our way down."

The three started towards the opening, where the troopers were already checking the cables to ensure they were still secure.

"General," Marczak asked as they approached the dangling cables and gathered troopers. "what class of ship did you two arrive in?"

" _Eta_ -class shuttle." Anakin responded. "Why?"

"Spotted what was left of it coming in," Marczak said. "someone had a go at it with a laser canon."

"Oh. You wouldn't happen to have any extra room, then, would you, colonel?"

"Of course, general." Marczak said, sounding amused.

He'd probably been expecting something like this, Ahsoka thought. Despite his piloting skills, her master lost a lot of ships.

Walking up to the hanging lines, Marczak grabbed one and held it out to Ahsoka.

"Ladies first."

Ahsoka took it from him, smiled, and began to climb.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

Wassup internet, Jim here, did you miss me?

Nah, I'm just goofin with you. I doubt even the people who liked the few things I wrote for this site over a roughly six month period noticed that I've been pretty much dark since then. Don't worry about it, I'm under no illusion that I'm in anyway popular around here at time of writing (8/2018).

What matters is that I'm back now, with a (sorta) new story. As the more astute amongst you who are familiar with my work may have noticed, this is a remake of _Marczak_ , my first and so far longest story. Some of you may also recall that I "rewrote" _Marczak_ almost immediately after the original version was back in September of 2016, and that that amounted to fixing some of the numerous typos that had slipped by my first round of editing and adding a few more scenes. I assure you that this is different, a complete redo essentially created from scratch using the same premise and vaguely the same story, but hopefully more refined than the admittedly bare-bones original.

Before anyone asks, yes, I am married to this concept, and everything _Star Wars_ related I write will end up coming back to it. Personally, I don't think that sort of consistency is a bad thing.

You'll also notice I gave this a new title; _Lives Well_ _Lived._ It probably won't start to make sense to most of you until we get towards the end of the story, but I'm fairly happy with it. Thinking of a title takes a lot of hard work, you know, especially for someone as obviously crap at naming things as I am, evidenced by the fact that I call myself Jim rather than something more creative, flowery, or symbolic like a lot of other author's on this site.

So, since the prologue was so short (about three pages in word), I'm going to publish Chapter 1 either later today (8/23/2018) or early tomorrow. After that I'll be releasing the subsequent eight chapters of Pt I (of IV) on a weekly basis, probably Wednesdays, which should mean it will all be out by the end of October. Unfortunately, I'll be going on forced hiatus after that where I won't have access to a computer, so Pt II (mostly complete at time of writing) won't start being published until early-mid April, at which point I'll hopefully resume the same schedule. Sorry, but it's a military thing so it's out of my control.

There, now that that's all out of the way these author's notes going forward are mostly going to be me rambling for a few paragraphs, so if you can skip them if that doesn't sound interesting to you. That being said, if I make any obscure references in a chapter, or if anyone asks a question, I'll attempt to explain/answer in this section. I do encourage questions, comments, reviews, etc. by the way, I'm a big boy, I can take a little criticism (unlike certain professional creative types whose names start with R- and end with -ian Johnson).

Well, now that I've officially turned anywhere up to half of you against me, thank you all for reading, favorite/follow if you liked it, and feel free to leave a review (not now obviously, wait till there's more story, but you get the point).


	2. Chapter One

**PART I: The Commander and the Colonel**

Chapter One

A rapping on the door of her quarters brought Ahsoka out of her meditative trance. Surprised at the unexpected interruption, she glanced at her chrono, her brow furrowing as she read it. She was off duty for another three hours, who was looking for her now?

"Hello?" Ahsoka said, reaching for her equipment belt as she stood.

"Ahsoka?" Anakin's voice called from beyond the door. "Can I come in?"

She relaxed a little. It was just Anakin, and nothing in his voice or the Force seemed to indicate any of the urgency that would accompany a crisis.

"Of course." She answered.

The door slid open, revealing her master scrolling through something on his datapad.

"Ahsoka." He said, smiling thinly at her as he entered.

"Master." Ahsoka responded, bowing slightly. Gesturing to the datapad, she continued. "What are you working on?"

It wasn't like him to walk around with a datapad like that unless he either had something to show her or something he needed help with. Strangely, though, neither seemed to be the case.

"Nothing important," Anakin said dismissively, shutting down the device and clipping it to his belt. "Just some last-minute reports that needed submitting."

"Okay." Ahsoka said, slightly confused. "Then what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"We've been called back to Coruscant," He responded. "Word came in from the Council a few hours ago."

"Temple duty?" She asked, dreading the answer she knew was coming.

"Yes"

"Oh." Ahsoka said, perhaps more glumly then she should have. Helping with the security and maintenance of the Temple was an important part of being a Jedi, even if there was a war on.

"I know you hate being away from the front." Anakin said, interpreting her tone correctly. "That's why I figured out a way for you to stay out here."

"You going to 'forget' to bring me on the shuttle back?" She suggested jokingly.

"No, I think they figured that trick out, the whole battlegroup is rotating back with us."

"Oh" At least the clones would get some leave time, then. "So what am I going to do?"

"Do you remember Col. Marczak?"

"Yea?" She answered tentatively. In truth, she hadn't given much thought to the man since their brief encounter a few weeks earlier. Well, other than the inquiries she'd made to Rex and the GAR records, but that had only taken the better part of an afternoon. What did he have to do with anything?

"Well, we rendezvoused with his ship about three hours ago to transfer supplies. The last shuttle was supposed to leave two hours ago, but it's been held up by unforeseen technical issues..." Anakin said, a hint of mischief sneaking into his voice.

"And you want me to get on it?" Ahsoka finished, catching his meaning almost immediately. "Won't the Council get mad about me running off?"

"No, because, as far as they know, that shuttle left on schedule. Unfortunately, by the time I received their transmission, it was too late for me to call you back." Anakin said, then patted the datapad at his hip. "At least, that's what the logs say."

Ahsoka smiled. So that's what he'd been working on when he'd walked in. In a way, she was sort of flattered that her master was willing to falsify reports so she wouldn't be bored out of her mind on guard duty.

"You're not coming?" She asked.

Anakin shrugged. "Somebody had to be here to answer the Council's message. Besides, I have… business to take care of on Coruscant."

His voice changed when he said that, sounding more distant, like he was distracted by whatever it was he was going to do. One of these days, Ahsoka resolved, she'd figure out where it was Anakin always snuck off to.

"So," Anakin continued. "you'd better grab whatever you need and get down to the hanger. They've been waiting for two hours; they're not going to hold up much longer."

"Thanks, skyguy." Ahsoka said, smiling. She rarely used the nickname she'd given him anymore, but when she did, it was purely affectionate. The same went for the nickname Anakin had given her.

"Don't mention it, snips." Anakin said over his shoulder as he left her room. "And have fun."

…

The hull shuttered violently as the shuttle settled onto its landing struts, throwing Ahsoka up into her restraints. She gritted her teeth, these _Nu_ -class cargo shuttles weren't really meant for passengers, which is why she was essentially strapped to the wall in a standing position between two stacks of crates. Once she was fairly certain that the shuttle was done moving, Ahsoka popped the clasp on her harness and started toward the ramp, clambering over crates and skirting around loader droids as she went.

Descending the forward ramp out of the shuttle's underslung cargo bay, Ahsoka paused for a moment to take in her new surroundings. She'd walked out into the hanger bay of an _Acclamator_ -class cruiser, _Retaliation_ , she remembered the ship was called. Oddly, the expansive hangers normally possessed by this class of ship seemed to have been cut down significantly, with the bay she now found herself in appearing to be quite a bit smaller than usual. Of course, _Retaliation_ might not need the extra space, she thought, as she only saw around twenty _Nu_ -class attack shuttles sitting in two parallel rows, the ship she'd come in on appearing to be the only cargo variant.

An annoyed sounding mechanical chirp from behind Ahsoka stopped her inspection of the hanger. Startled, she turned her head to see one of the loaders idling behind her, it's way forward obstructed by her presence, something it seemed very much unhappy about.

"Sorry." She murmured, taking a short leap off the side of the ramp onto the deck.

The droid continued on its way, letting lose another series of beeps and whistles that likely would have offended Ahsoka if she'd still been paying any attention to the machine. She wasn't, of course, having set about the task of finding someone to report in to. However, a cursory glance around revealed only droids of varying descriptions, not a single living tech, let alone a deck officer. She paced down along the line of ships, hoping she'd find someone hidden in between two of the vessels. Then she heard voices, barely audible over the background noise of droids going about their work, coming from around the other side of the cargo hauler she'd just exited.

Of course, Ahsoka thought, the pilots! How could she have forgotten them? They'd know the procedure on where to go, since it was apparently different aboard _Retaliation_ than on most Republic vessels.

She moved from where she'd been a few shuttles down, quickly moving back to the side of the vessel, up and over the ramp, and rounding the corner to find three men. The first two, facing her, were the pilots, standing at ease with their helmets tucked under their arms, laughing at something she hadn't heard. In front of them, with his back to Ahsoka, was another man wearing GAR fatigues whom she initially mistook for a clone, then realized was Marczak.

"Colonel!" She called out, startling the two pilots, neither of whom had noticed the Togruta officer approaching. They stiffened, taken over by years of instruction on how to conduct themselves in the presence of an officer.

"Commander Tano." Marczak said as he turned sharply on his heel to face her, straightening up as the troopers had. Inspecting the datapad in his hand, he continued. "I don't remember seeing you on the manifest."

She opened her mouth to explain her presence, but stopped. Of course he knew she was coming, Ahsoka realized, he was just messing with her.

"What's wrong, Colonel?" She said, putting a little bravado into her voice. "I thought you special ops guys were used to things being on a need to know basis?"

Marczak smiled thinly. Then, remembering the pilots still standing at attention, he turned and dismissed the two men with a nod.

With the clones gone, Marczak visibly relaxed, clipping his datapad to his belt, and said "You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that, the boys are under enough stress without having to look for you over their shoulders."

"I didn't scare you, did I Colonel?" Ahsoka said, raising one eyebrow in jest.

He smiled and shook his head. "You know, General Skywalker warned me you were trouble."

"Oh yea? What kind of trouble?" She said, more than a little curious as to what Anakin had told Marczak about her.

"The kind that gets on his nerves." Marczak answered, then chuckled as he continued. "Which probably means you're a lot like him."

Ahsoka decided that was a good thing and smiled back at the colonel. She hadn't really known what to expect him to be like going in, what precious little information she'd been able to glean from GAR records had been a dry, factual, and altogether unhelpful collection of heavily redacted mission reports. Rex, surprisingly, hadn't been of much use either. He'd seldom been in the same room as Marczak, usually interacting with the man via hologram during staff meetings. All the captain had been able to tell her was that he was Mandalorian, didn't seem to take himself too seriously, and that his men had always spoken of him in a reverent tone. So far, Rex's intel was good.

"Well," The colonel said, straightening up again. "first things first. Welcome aboard, commander." He saluted her sharply.

"Reporting as ordered, sir." Ahsoka responded, attempting to return the salute even though she'd never really mastered that particular courtesy.

"Good." Marczak said, dropping the salute and relaxing his posture. "You don't have to call me sir."

"Okay, what should I call you then?"

He shrugged "Doesn't matter all that much to me, most of the troopers either call me colonel or boss. You can take your pick, or just call me Marczak if you want, it's up to you."

"All right then, colonel" Ahsoka said, deciding on that as the best option right now. "Where to next."

Marczak pulled his comlink, checking the crono on the display.

"Looks like we've got another hour till meal time," He said. "so I have just enough time to give you the tour before we head over to the mess."

He started off down the row of shuttles, waving for Ahsoka to follow. Most of the droid activity had stopped, with many the machines returning to recessed recharge ports set back into the bulkheads. It made the hanger seem even more empty than it had before, something she pointed out as they neared the exit.

"Yea, it's like that most of the time around here." He explained "I've only got around three hundred crewers to run this tub, with another five hundred ARFs around to do routine maintenance checks and the like. We'd be pretty shorthanded if it weren't for all the modifications Rothana made to this particular vessel."

Marczak went on to explain that _Retaliation_ had been the result of a special project by Rothana Heavy Engineering to cut down on the necessary crew required to man an _Acclamator_. They'd achieved this by automating and streamlining most key systems and quadrupling the compliment of droids to handle most of the low-level maintenance and logistical tasks. Unfortunately, once the prototype was built, all the extra equipment that had been added on to handle the automated tasks cut the troop compliment by more than half without a significant increase in overall combat effectiveness, so the project was scrapped. The prototype, however, had already been completed, so she was commissioned as _Retaliation_ and spent about a month as part of the Rothana defense fleet before Marczak had snatched her up and had her further modified for use as a base for his battalion.

Walking around _Retaliation_ for the first time, Ahsoka had to say she was one hell of vessel. The Rothana engineers that had done the retrofit were incredibly resourceful, and it amazed her that they'd been able to fit as much equipment as would be needed to run a warship of this size into as small a space as they had. Even if there wasn't enough room left over for the fleet to consider it worth the cost, Marczak clearly didn't have the same issue. Everything he and his men could have needed was onboard, advanced command and control systems for long range ops, fully equipped training facilities, sensor jammers that would make the ship practically invisible, and enough com equipment to ensure that Retaliation could send information anywhere in the galaxy without having to relocate. The unique systems and setup fascinated Ahsoka enough that she was almost sad when the tour ended.

"Here we are." Marczak said as he stopped at the door to what Ahsoka assumed was the mess and turned to face her. "So, what did you think of the old girl?"

"Impressive." Ahsoka responded. "I've never seen anything like it."

Marczak smiled.

"Good, always nice to have someone around who appreciates tech." He said as he turned back towards the door and reached for the control panel. "We don't have a wardroom; I prefer to eat with the men. I assume that won't be a problem?"

She opened her mouth to answer as they walked through the now open door, but a clone's voice cut her off.

"Colonel on deck!" Shouted a trooper sitting close by to their right. All around them, the mess hall fell silent but for the shuffling of boots as troopers scrambled to their feet. Next to her, Marczak stepped toward the center of the room.

"At ease, boys." The colonel started, then gestured toward Ahsoka as he continued. "Most of you may have heard of Commander Tano, here on special assignment from General Skywalker. She'll be serving as battalion XO until further notice, so you'd all better get used to her. Carry on"

As the troopers returned to their meals, Marczak walked back to where he'd left Ahsoka.

"What were you saying?" He said as he waved her further into the mess.

"Oh yea," She said, struggling for a moment to remember. "I was saying I normally eat with the men."

"Good" The colonel stopped next to a table were five troopers already sat and motioned for her to sit across from him.

"Afternoon, colonel" Said one of the troopers, who then nodded toward Ahsoka. "Ma'am."

"Commander Tano, this is Rip, Stalker, Niner, and Vor," He said, gesturing to each of the men in turn. "my command squad."

"More like bodyguards," The trooper called Rip said, laughing. "lost count of the number of times we've had to pull the colonel's ass out of the fire."

Marczak shot a harsh look back at the clone. "And who dragged you ten clicks through the desert when you caught that chunk of shrapnel in your _shebs_ on Geonosis, _di'kut_?"

"Boss's got you there, Rip." Niner said. "Besides, I'm sure our job will be a whole lot easier with the commander around."

The rest of the troopers nodded in agreement.

"Now don't you go expecting Commander Tano to everything," Marczak said admonishingly. "I don't want you boys going soft just because we have a Jedi."

He turned back to Ahsoka, who so far hadn't said anything since she'd sat down.

"So, commander, you've seen just about everything there is to see. Any burning questions on your mind?"

She had one, about something that had become far more apparent since they'd sat down.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" She said hesitantly, unsure whether what she wanted to ask would cross some kind of line.

Marczak just shrugged. "Shoot."

"How old are you?" She asked. It had only really occurred to her since she'd seen Marczak directly alongside the clones, but now that she did she couldn't help but notice. He looked young, maybe even a few years younger than his men, as much as that meant with clones.

She could tell by the look on his face that her question wasn't what he'd expected, but he took it I stride and answered without hesitation. "Twenty standard years, give or take a month."

Ahsoka had been right. Biologically at least, most of the clone were in their mid-twenties, which would explain why Marczak looked three or four years younger. That also made him the youngest non-Jedi officer she'd ever met, and yet he rated colonel. There was definitely a story there, one Ahsoka very much intended to learn. For now, though, there was one thing she knew.

This was going to be interesting.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

While all of Part I was finished back in May, barring a bit of editing and one minor change, the prologue through to the middle of chapter four are actually almost a year older than the second half of four and chapters five through nine. I started on this project back in January of last year (2017), finished up that first half of chapter four by around April, but any real progress kinda stalled after that for a variety of personal reasons I'd prefer not to divulge. It wasn't until last March that I was able to seriously buckle down and start working on this again, a period of productivity that may have slowed down slightly to accommodate my editing and publishing process, but has still yet to end.

Oddly enough, I think I'd have to credit all the absolutely dog shit _Star Wars_ material that came out during the last half of 2017 for me being able to refocus. The first crushing disappointment that was _Battlefront II_ 's campaign (the gameplay was fine, and I still play the multiplayer), all the worse because it was continuing off such an interesting and enjoyable novel. Having that followed up with the kick in the balls to long time fans that was _Last Jedi_ (something I will argue to my dying breath was an intentional move by a pretentious knob-end) was enough to make me finally lose faith in Disney's handling of the franchise.

If I'm being honest it was probably the response to criticism that was being leveled at _Last Jedi_ and Johnson in particular that really did it. The old Paul Feig "you're all just sexist" argument is really the laziest way to try and deflect criticism from a product, and it says more about Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson's mindsets than it does the critics. I mean, "because there's women in it" is the last reason I hated _Last Jedi_ , I hated it because it was two hours of Rian Johnson wanking about how much more clever and artistic than everyone he was. The problem with Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo isn't that she's a woman, it's her toxic command style and the fact that the story is contrived to do what every episode of _ST: Voyager_ did with Cpt. Janeway, make the arrogant, condescending commander 100% in the right and make everyone else look like an idiot for not agreeing with her. On a side note, screw you Pablo Hidalgo and your stupid Twitter poll. I'm in the freaking military, so I think I know a little more you do when I say that any _competent_ officer knows that they have to explain their plan to their subordinates, especially in such bleak situations, because otherwise your just asking for them to lose faith in your leadership and mutiny to save their own asses. The problem with Rose Tico isn't that she's a woman, it's that her character is mostly pointless other than to facilitate the worst part of the movie and spout a bunch of bullshit about how wealth equals EVIL (and newsflash to anyone who thinks arms manufacturing is the most profitable business you can be in, check out a list of the richest men in the world right now. Consumer goods and basic resources are always going to make you more money than the niche market of military hardware).

Wow, had that bottled up for a while. Anyway, what do you all think of the summary? It's a little corny, I know, but I've been realizing more and more that a lot of my stuff is kind of like that, so I guess it fits. It's also a bit shorter than I would have preferred, but I pushed the character limit as far as I could. This is going up a little later than I'd hoped, not so much "early today" as "around noon today", but these author's notes take longer to write than I'd anticipated. I like doing them though, I've never had a blog or anything like that, and it's nice to just be able to ramble in text form.

The response I've been seeing to this so far is pretty good, a good number of views for the first twenty-four hours, a few follows, and one review. Thank you, reader identified only as 8th, I'm glad you enjoy my work so much and I'm looking forward to showing you were I going with all this.

As always, follow or favorite if you enjoyed it and feel free to leave a review (because, in the odd vernacular of this site, all comments must be labeled as reviews).

 ** _(It should be noted that, despite his stated hatred of_ Last Jedi** _ **, Jim's social media presence is limited to a horrendously out of date Facebook page and he in no way condoned or participated in the harassment campaigns conducted against Daisy Ridley and Kellie Marie Tran by the type of angry fan he would like to disassociate himself from. Both are lovely women and fine actresses who don't deserve to be blamed for what was never their responsibility. If you're going to hate someone, please hate Rian Johnson, that guy's an asshole.)**_


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

It was another remote farming town on another remote backwater of the Outer Rim, so obscure that no one had ever bother changing its number designation on star charts to whatever the locals had decided to call it. All things considered, it was the perfect place to meet someone carrying sensitive information without drawing any undue attention. Of course, Ahsoka still had no idea why all this cloak and blade stuff was necessary when a secure holonet transmission would have been faster, but this was apparently just how things went.

"Rep Intel has its own way of doing things." Marczak had told her. "The rest of us just have to play their games and hope we get what we need."

He'd made that statement with a conviction obviously born of experience, which, when combined with her own limited knowledge of Republic Intelligence, inclined Ahsoka to agree with him.

Marczak stopped the dirty, anonymous looking landspeeder they'd taken into town next to a group of similarly unremarkable vehicles already sitting outside what could only be assumed to be the local cantina from the noise that emanated from the partially open windows. Rip and Niner, newly repainted armor partially concealed under brown traveler's cloaks, quickly disembarked the vehicle and moved for the door of the establishment. Ahsoka attempted to follow, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Hold up a minute." Marczak's voice came from the driver's side.

Ahsoka turned toward the colonel, similarly decked out in the garish colors preferred by mercenary groups, with a questioning look. He looked serious, and more concerned than she'd ever seen him.

"Are you sure you want to go in?" He said. "I won't hold it against you if you'd rather wait out here with Niner."

"What?" Ahsoka was genuinely confused. It had been Marczak's idea for her to come on this little excursion in the first place, why did he suddenly her to wait outside?

"I'm just saying this is a pretty rough place, and I wouldn't want to put you in position that might be… _uncomfortable_."

"Really?" She snorted. "I've been in a cantina…"

"I'm sure you have." Marczak cut her off, his voice suddenly taking a harsh tone. "But this isn't the Core. Where out on the fringe here, it's more dangerous out here than you know."

"It's just a farming world…"

"And what exactly do they farm?" He said rhetorically, then sighed. "My point is, there's a lot of things that go on in places like this that you might not be prepared for, I need you to promise me you'll be able handle it."

"I can handle anything." Ahsoka said cockily. After all, she was a Jedi and an officer in the Grand Army of the Republic, she'd fought dozens of battles and seen things most people her age never dreamed of. Marczak wasn't even that much older than she was, where did he get off talking to her like she was some youngling who'd never left the Temple?

"I'm serious, Ahsoka." That got her attention. "You need to stay next to me and keep your head down, don't look anyone in the eye, and if there's trouble, you let me handle it. Got it?"

She just nodded, still a little thrown off by Marczak's use of her first name. It's not like she thought he didn't know it, but up until now he'd never called her by it or even said it out loud. Whatever it was he was concerned about, he was deadly serious.

"Good." He said, nodding his own head as if to emphasize the point. "Then let's go."

The two troopers were still waiting by the front entrance when Ahsoka and Marczak got there, trying the best to watch every approach while still seeming nonchalant.

"Everything all right, colonel?" Niner said in a hushed tone, hand subconsciously moving toward the blaster at his hip.

"Just running through a few things with Commander Tano." Marczak said, then gestured to the door as he continued. "Rip, get in there and scope out the back room for our contact. Niner, you wait out here and warn us in case anyone unpleasant shows up to crash the party."

Both men nodded curtly and moved to carry out their assigned task. Rip opened the door, disappearing through it into the cantina. Niner leaned back up against the exterior wall where he'd been waiting.

Marczak and Ahsoka waited outside for another minute before they made their move. He gestured for her to follow as he passed through the door straight into the crowded bar area. The interior of the establishment was, as she'd expected, hot, crowded, and filled with lingering clouds of smoke and the stench of alcohol. She stayed close to the colonel, halting by the door as he looked around over the crowd for Ripper. It didn't take him long to find the clone, waving to them from just outside a curtained doorway at the other end of the main bar area.

Ahsoka looked up toward Marczak, who tilted his head toward where Rip was waiting. She nodded and followed as he made his way through the crowd surrounding the bar and half a dozen game tables that dotted the area separating them from the waiting trooper. The stench she'd noticed when they'd walked in grew worse the farther she went, and was joined by a plethora of other odors whose origins she didn't want to know. It was also loud, with so many voices trying to talk over each other at once that it was disorienting. Worse than the noise, for Ahsoka at least, was the constantly shifting movements of so many beings in such close proximity.

After about a minute of this overload of three of her primary senses, Ahsoka realized that she'd lost sight of Marczak.

 _Damn it_ , she thought, _where the hell did he go?_

She looked around the crowd, but she was significantly shorter than everyone around her, and neither brown cloaks or painted plastoid were particularly uncommon among the cantina's patrons. Deciding there was no way she was going to find him by just standing there, Ahsoka pressed on further through the crowd. Passing the bar, which she hoped represented the midpoint of the room, Ahsoka barely noticed one particularly raucous group of drinkers that stood there.

Until she felt a hand.

Ahsoka wheeled around, bearing her teeth and letting loose a noise that was close to a snarl as her eyes swept over the drinkers in search of the culprit. The offending hand was attached to a male Twi'lek, still drunkenly leering at her with a look that made her want to vomit. She stared daggers at the man, continuing to bare her teeth in what she hoped was a threatening way. The Twi'lek just smiled, showing his own sharpened teeth, and turned to his friends, saying something in a language Ahsoka couldn't understand. As the others laughed, the Twi'lek turned back toward her and took another step forward. Her hand moved toward the concealed hilt of her lightsaber as she prepared teach the drunk and his friends some manners.

"Do we have a problem here?" Said a gruff voice from behind Ahsoka.

She looked back to see that Marczak had suddenly appeared over her right shoulder, cloak pulled back behind his shoulders to expose a holstered blaster and sheathed vibroblade. It took her assailant, drunk as he was, a few seconds to notice the colonel. When he did, he stepped back and raised his hands in a defensive gesture, jabbering something desperately in his strange language.

Whatever he was saying didn't seem to matter to Marczak, who, in one fluid motion, took a step around Ahsoka and launched a powerful right hook that connected with the Twi'lek's jaw. The man's body went limp and he collapsed in a pile, jaw protruding at an odd angle that led Ahsoka to believe it had been dislocated by the blow. For a minute, the Twi'lek's friends were to stunned by his sudden and decisive disabling to move, instead just staring blankly at Marczak. The one closest to the colonel, a Duros, was the first to recover, reaching into his jacket for what was likely a weapon. The alien froze before he could draw, however, when he found himself staring down the barrel of a wickedly powerful looking blaster pistol. Marczak had drawn and leveled his own weapon so fast, Ahsoka had almost missed it. None of the others moved for a weapon.

Slowly the crowd around them grew quite as Marczak stared down the five beings that, by now, must have been seriously rethinking their association with the unconscious Twi'lek. Then, quite suddenly, Marczak started shouting something in the same unidentified language she'd heard earlier, first at the Twi'lek's friends, then to everyone in the cantina. When he'd finished, he holstered his blaster, put his arm around Ahsoka, and started back toward the way he'd come. This time, the crowd parted for them as they went.

"I told you to stay next to me!" Marczak snapped in a low enough voice that only Ahsoka could hear him.

"I lost you in the crowd." She shot back. "This place is disorienting."

"I know, that's why I wanted you to stay on my hip."

"Well then you should have said that!"

"I did… or at least I meant to." He said, then sighed. "I knew something like that was going to happen, you're just lucky I came by when I did."

"I could've handled it!" She said incredulously.

"Without using your lightsabers?"

Ahsoka scowled "What did you say to them anyway?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

Marczak hesitated a moment before responding. "I told them you were my wife, and that if anyone else touched you I'd tear off their arm and stick it in a… sensitive place."

"Ok then." Ahsoka said, unsure how she felt about that. Not that it didn't make sense, it was probably the best thing he could have said, but something about it made her feel weird. She quickly dismissed the odd feeling, chocking it up to the novelty of the situation. This sort of thing didn't happen to Jedi.

Rip was waiting patiently by the door when Ahsoka and Marczak arrived, and waited with further patience for their little argument to end before he finally addressed the colonel.

"Sir" The clone said, nodding slightly. "trouble?"

"Some of the locals had a few to many." Marczak responded, his voice making it clear that he didn't wish to elaborate. "Let's just get this over with."

He pulled the curtain aside and the three stepped into a small, semi-circular antechamber with three doors along the curved rear wall. They made for the center door, Ripper once again taking point into the room beyond.

The first thing Ahsoka noticed about the space, even before entering it, was the smell, even worse than the bar area had been. It was also dark, lit by a single, failing glow rod mounted above the door. But the most disconcerting part by far was the room's sole inhabitant.

"New blood, colonel?" Said the shaggy looking Bothan, seated at a table that was the small room's only furnishing. "She doesn't look like a clone."

"Nice to see you to, Crier." Marczak said, his contempt for the man Ahsoka assumed was their contact quite clear in his voice. He sat down across from the Bothan, motioning for Ahsoka to do the same.

"Come now, colonel, are you really not going to introduce me to your lovely new friend?" Crier said, a sly grin spreading across his face.

The way her day was going, Ahsoka was in no mood to deal with any more shit, especially not from someone she was fairly certain she outranked. But, as she opened her mouth to spit a particularly harsh insult, Marczak put his hand on her shoulder.

"This is Commander Tano," He said with false politeness. "I suggest you treat her with the respect due to a Jedi officer."

The Bothan's grin didn't waver. "Hard to believe a Jedi could cause such a commotion without using her lightsaber."

Ahsoka's eyes narrowed. She was starting to understand Marczak's clear distaste for the Rep Intel agent.

"Just hand over the intel." Marczak said.

The Bothan shook his head disapprovingly as he reached into his jacket. "Impatient as always, eh Colonel?" He said. "You're just no fun at all."

Crier put a datacard down on the table and slid it over to the colonel. Marzcak picked it up, looked it over, then tossed it over his shoulder to Rip.

"Want to tell us what's on here?" The clone said, holding the card up to his eye.

"Tssk, tssk, trooper, you know that's not how this works." Crier responded.

Rip glowered at the Bothan, but said nothing else as he slipped the datacard into his belt.

"Well then," Marczak said, pushing out his chair as he stood "if that's all there is, I think we'll be on our way." Ahsoka stood and followed the colonel as he made for the door, Ripper falling in behind them.

"Goodbye, colonel," The Bothan called after them "I hope you have fun…"

 **Author's Notes:**

At this point, if you're familiar with the original, then you're probably wondering what the point was in rewriting this story if all the same things are going to happen just described in greater detail. Well, I'd argue that greater detail and a more comprehensible writing style are worthy ends unto themselves. But seriously, there are entirely new chapters and scenes coming up, even in the next chapter, it's just that these first three and a half (roughly) chapters were written using the original as a strict guide. I got away from that when writing the rest of it, but that's why everything so far seems so familiar.

As far as this chapter goes, it has been suggested to me that the setup might not make the most sense in context. I'd honestly have to agree on that, there's no real reason for RepIntel to give out operational intelligence like this, and there's even less of a reason for a unit most operationally similar to an elite light infantry/reconnaissance unit like the US Army Cavalry Scouts to get its orders this way, especially since this is the only time this sort of thing happens. The real reason it's still in here is because this scene was part of the very original idea for this story going back to when I first thought of it in high school, before I'd ever even attempted to write anything. At least it sort of foreshadows something everyone and there mother should see coming from the moment they pick this story up.

These notes are going to be shorter than usual because I'm short on time today, so as always follow/favorite if you liked it, and leave feel free to leave a review.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

One of these days, Ahsoka was going to figure out what was so damn important about Felucia.

Not that the world didn't have its appeal, if you could get past the heat, humidity, and hostile fauna. She'd even go far enough to say that, under certain circumstances and to certain people, it could be downright pleasant. But that didn't do anything to explain why the war kept finding its way back here, or why it always seemed to drag her along with it.

"Hyperspace routes." Marczak had said when she'd asked him about it "Perlemian runs close enough by here that the Commerce Guild thinks it's worth their time. Chancellor must be thinking along the same lines."

And that made a lot of strategic sense, but she could never shake the feeling that it had a little to do with ego. Ahsoka vaguely remembered reports from early in the war about a blockade Grievous had put around Felucia, and the subsequent defeat of the Republic flotilla that had been sent against it. Ever since then, the war on Felucia had amounted to GAR troopers fighting tooth and nail to seize one Sep fortress only to have another pop up a stone's throw away. She had participated in two of those battles, one disastrous attempt to gain a foothold on the planet, and a more successful second attempt that had apparently been just as futile. In the end, nothing had really been lost or gained beyond the deaths of a few thousand clones and other Republic personnel, and the few credits any destroyed B-1 droids were worth to the Seps. So, at this point, it looked like the conflict over this little slice of hell was as much about neither the Republic or the CIS being willing to back down as about any strategic value Felucia had.

If the effort they'd gone through to retrieve the intel that had led to this little expedition was testament to how committed the Republic was to taking Felucia, Col. Marczak's response to that intel was testament to how much he didn't want to be part of that campaign.

"Heads on a swivel when we hit the ground." Marczak said to the occupants of the shuttle's passenger bay, twenty-eight troopers and Ahsoka. "I don't want any surprises this time."

He was answered by a chorus of grunts over the open com channel and the slapping of power packs into blaster rifles by the men around her. It was times like this when Ahsoka wished she had more equipment to check, not that she really needed anything else, but she felt awkward just sitting there listening to clones go through their pre-mission checklists.

"Command channel check…" The colonel's voice came from a device on her wrist.

"Acknowledged." She said, realizing that was the last thing she'd be expected to do before they landed. Absentmindedly, she fingered the equipment on her belt; lightsabers, macrobinoculars, grapple line, the small emergency survival kit that contained a fire starter, emergency beacon, and flare, all still in the same place they had been five minutes earlier.

The shuttle compartment vibrated subtly, indicating that they'd entered Felucia's atmosphere, and the troopers stopped their preparations. They were on edge, Ahsoka could tell, knowing that they were now in enemy territory, sealed inside an awkward and relatively slow-moving metal can. This quiet anticipation lasted until the pilot's voice came over the ship's intercom.

"Jammer active. Negative sensor contacts. We're clear."

The tension that had permeated the compartment quickly faded, and the men around Ahsoka returned to their tasks. Ahsoka relaxed as well, releasing tension she hadn't even noticed building, when she felt an armored elbow poke her in the side. She turned to look at Marczak strapped into the seat next to her.

"Looks like we finally got a piece of equipment that does what it says on the tin." He said with the dry humor soldiers used when they felt like they'd narrowly avoided death.

Ahsoka nodded and smiled thinly, all too aware of what happened to unescorted gunships and shuttles caught out by fighters. "Let's hope no one made visual contact, then."

Before the colonel could answer, the lights in the compartment cut out and where replaced by a dim red glow. Ahsoka, along with everyone else on board, tensed again.

"Drop zone in one mike." The pilots voice came out over the intercom. "Initiating landing sequence."

A final chorus of com checks rang out as the shuttle descended toward a small clearing in the middle of Felucia's vast jungle. The hull shuttered again, accompanied by the sound of hydraulics in the landing gear and wings shortly before the shuttle hit the ground slightly harder than was comfortable. The red lighting changed to green and restraints unlatched as the forward ramp dropped fast enough that Ahsoka knew it must have been modified for quick deployments. She rose from her seat along with the troopers and Marczak as they ran in two files out into the clearing. They spread out quickly in a half-circle around the front of the shuttle, scanning the tree line for a few tense moments before the colonel spoke.

"Report?" He said from his position, crouched in the center of the circle.

Knelt next to him, Ahsoka heard the proclamations of "all clear" over the com channel. Oddly enough though, despite her close proximity to Marczak and the fact that she could see the tension go out from his shoulders as he stood, Ahsoka didn't feel any change in him through the force. It was a trend she'd noticed increasingly often during the few weeks she'd been with ARF battalion, that there was something consistently off about the colonel's presence in the force. Not that there was anything dark about it, she'd had enough experience with the likes of Ventress to know Sith influence when she felt it. There just wasn't really anything about it, it was completely blank, like looking at a durasteel bulkhead. Ahsoka didn't really know what to make of it, she'd always been able to feel people's emotions in the force, it was her talent, and not being able to feel anything from someone was… different.

"Commander?"

The sound of Marczak's voice made Ahsoka jump. Silently cursing herself for spacing out in the middle of a mission, she turned towards him. He'd crouched down again about two meters away in a circle with what appeared to be Vor and three sergeants, and had placed his helmet on the ground beside him. He was waving her over to them, smirking slightly now that he'd realized he'd startled her. Grimacing in what she hoped was an apologetic manner, Ahsoka moved over to them.

"Everything all right, ma'am?" One of the troopers asked.

"Yes. I was just thinking." She replied

"About what?" Marczak asked, raising one eyebrow quizzically.

"Nothing important." She said. "Now what were you talking about over here?"

The colonel didn't seem particularly satisfied with her answer, but shrugged it off and pointed to the ground in the center of the circle, where he'd laid out a map. Not a holo-map, an old style, two-dimensional topographical map printed on flimsiplast.

"We're here." He said, putting his finger down on a grid square marked with a red x, then dragged his finger across the map to another marking. "Our objective is here, around eighty klicks away through dense jungle. On foot, that'd normally take us around four local days, but there's a shallow gorge that runs almost forty klicks in the direction we need to go. If we head down through there, we should be able to make it in two, maybe two and a half days at most."

Ahsoka looked at the part of the map Marczak had indicated skeptically. She wasn't particularly familiar with this kind of map, but, from what he'd said, this sounded risky.

"Won't something like a gorge leave us a little exposed?" She asked.

"No," Marczak responded quickly. "Look, it's narrow enough that the canopy will have grown over the top and cover us from aerial surveillance, and it branches off far enough away that they won't bother sending ground patrols through there."

"Okay then," Ahsoka said, starting to understand that he'd probably used this sort of approach before. "So we just throw a camo net over the shuttle and hope no one trips over it while we're out?"

Marczak grinned. "Essentially. Except if anyone does trip over it, Cell will put a blaster bolt neatly between their eyes. Right, sergeant?"

"It'll be here when you get back, colonel." Sergeant Cell said confidently. "You can bet your pension on it."

"Didn't know I had a pension," Marczak said, drawing a few chuckles from the troopers. "but I'll hold you to your word on that."

He stood with a grunt, donning his helmet as he did, and started moving towards the fungal trees.

"Form it up," The colonel said, making a circle in the air above his head with a finger. "about time we got this show on the road."

….

It was around six hours after they'd set out that they found the gorge, and Ahsoka immediately regretted her earlier skepticism. The going along the bottom of the gorge was much easier than picking their way along game trails in the jungle proper, especially since the river that had carved the passage over centuries had since dried to a mere trickle.

What worried her, though, was the canopy that, much like Marczak had predicted, had formed a roof over the gorge, giving it the feel of a tunnel. It shifted in the wind and with the movement of small animals, and Ahsoka was reminded of stories about attacks by the more savage of Felucia's two native sentient races.

"Let's hope none of the tribes have laid claim to this area." Marczak said, as if he'd been reading her mind. "They don't take to kindly to intruders."

That was an understatement if anything Ahsoka had ever heard about strange, bipedal amphibians was true.

"You ever seen them?" She asked.

"Once, while we were scouting for the first ground assault." He said. "It wasn't what I'd call a 'diplomatic' exchange."

"Well it might be too dry for them around here, don't they prefer…" She trailed off as the Colonel stopped in front of her, hand tensing on the grip of his rifle as he looked slowly around at the gorge walls and canopy.

"What's wrong?" Ahsoka asked urgently as she pulled the lightsabers off her belt. Behind her, she could hear the troopers spreading out from the single line they'd been marching in to take cover, though she was pretty sure they didn't know why Marczak had stopped either.

"Listen." Marczak said, softly enough that she could barely hear him. "Do you hear that?"

She crept up next to him and stretched out with the force, as well as her other senses. Nothing felt unusual, and, even with her sharper hearing, the jungle was completely silent.

Completely silent.

The realization came to her a half-second before Marczak slammed into her side, sending her stumbling almost three meters, where she turned back toward him just in time to see the blue-skinned, mask-clad warrior land square on his shoulders, flattening him. Before she could move to help the colonel, another warrior appeared to her left, charging with its weapon raised. She sidestepped the creatures charge, nudging it along with the Force, and quickly drew her lightsabers while her opponent stumbled trying to defeat its own momentum. Ahsoka leaped at the off-balance warrior, swinging her sabers down toward its head. The creature raised its weapon to catch the blow, and did, but was forced to a knee by the strength of the impact. Momentarily caught off guard by the warrior's stopping of her sabers with what appeared to be a jawbone, Ahsoka hesitated, allowing the creature to push her back. She recovered quickly, sidestepping another aggressive yet overly telegraphed strike and slashing her opponent across the midsection. The creature shrieked and collapsed, if not dead at least out of the fight for good.

Ahsoka used the brief respite afforded to her by the victory to take stock of the situation. The Jungle Felucians, as she now realized the creatures were, had dropped directly on top of the trooper's formation from the canopy over the gorge and were engaging the clones in melee. From what Ahsoka could see, the troopers were starting to recover from the initial shock of ambush and were fighting back, though they were struggling to hold their own against the more physically powerful Felucians. Marczak was faring better, having already dispatched the warrior that had landed on him and moved on to help Vor and Rip.

Following the colonel's lead, Ahsoka took a Force-assisted leap toward the nearest group of Felucians and troopers, landing directly behind one warrior and cutting across its knees before it had a chance to react. The second warrior managed to turn its head towards her before losing half its arm and the right side of its torso, while a third was taken down by a trooper when it moved to defend itself from the new threat. Finding itself alone against a Jedi and two clones, the last warrior turned and ran up the side of the gorge, disappearing into the jungle.

It quickly became apparent that that Felucian hadn't been alone in feeling that the odds had turned against the ambushing warriors, as those who were still able fled back out of the gorge as well. Ahsoka deactivated her lightsabers and smiled, allowing herself the grim satisfaction of having survived another engagement, even if it had only been a small skirmish. Again, she looked around and was relieved that none of the clones appeared to be seriously injured, though one or two had to be supported by their comrades as they walked.

"Commander."

She turned toward the sound of Marczak's voice to see him making his way toward her through the remnants of the skirmish, pausing briefly to pull a vibroknife from the corpse of a fallen warrior. He wiped the blood from the weapon on his kama while he went, finally slipping the blade back into its shoulder-mounted sheath as he stopped in front of her.

"You hurt?" The colonel asked, helmet bobbing in a way that suggested he was looking her over.

"No." She said, shaking her head. "I'm fine."

"Good." He said. "No serious casualties, but we've got three minor concussions, two sprained ankles, and a dozen contusions." He'd turned towards the troopers as he was talking, reading each man's diagnostic report as his eyes passed over them.

That was the one thing that made Ahsoka wish she could wear a helmet. The protection she could take or leave, and it would probably hinder her hearing more than a human's, but the heads-up display was something she'd always envied.

"Can the medics handle it?"

"Medic, we only have one." Marczak said. "But Rach should be able to handle it if we give him some time."

"How much time?"

"A few hours."

"So, we should make camp here then?"

"Might as well, rest will do 'em about as good as anything else we got."

Camp in the GAR usually meant bedding down wherever there was cover and, if possible, a water source, but this was where Felucia's bioluminescent jungles yielded one advantage. Fire, usually avoided by troops in the field, was hidden from possible enemy observers by the light of the surrounding foliage. Small fires, fires big enough to heat a ration pack and possibly a pot of GAR-issue caf. In Ahsoka's opinion, this didn't make either more bearable.

The troopers ate quickly without saying much, a habit Ahsoka had noticed aboard Retaliation that all of Marczak's men seemed to share, and that left her sitting alone with the Colonel as his men had moved off to find comfortable places to bed down or stand watch. They were odd, these clones, but Rex and a lot of the other infantry troopers had always told her that special units tended to breed behavior that seemed a bit off to outsiders. She also considered that it might have something to do with their commanding officer. After all, who was more out of place in an army of clones led by Jedi then a non-Force user born, she assumed, in the same way as most beings in the galaxy?

Marczak didn't look out of place though. He looked like he'd been born to wear that armor, just like his men, and he interacted with them as naturally as any clone officer would have. Maybe he was living proof that regular men and women could serve the Republic just as well as clone soldiers and Jedi knights, maybe it was his Mandalorian heritage, maybe it was something else, Ahsoka didn't know. What she did know was that he'd very recently pushed her out of the way of a Felucian warrior which would have landed directly on top of her, but had instead landed square on his shoulders.

"Thanks for the save earlier." Ahsoka said after she'd finished her ration pack.

"Don't mention it." Marczak said before scooping the last bite of his own meal into his mouth and tossing the wrapper down next to his helmet.

"I don't get it." She sighed. "I shouldn't have been caught off guard like that, I should've felt them coming."

This had been bothering her ever since they'd driven off the Felucians. The war party that had ambushed them was at least twenty strong, that many beings should've made a huge impression in the Force for her to pick up on.

"The problem is," Marczak said as he finished chewing. "you're relying too much on the Force. You're Togruta, a born hunter, use that."

"How'd you know they were there?" She asked, though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.

"All the other ambient noise; insects, birds, stopped." He said, gesturing up at the canopy as he did. "That's the only way you can tell, really. Felucians have a camouflage reflex that makes them as hard to pick out with your eyes as it is with the Force."

Ahsoka opened her mouth to say that she'd noticed the silence a few seconds too late, but something about what he'd said made her stop. It was rare for a non-Force sensitive to talk about the Force at all, let alone to talk about it as if they understood how it worked. She could've dismissed it as Marczak having picked up a few things from working with Jedi during the war, but then there was that weird sense she got when trying to read him… it was sort of like another Jedi trying to hide their thoughts.

She had to be sure though.

Marczak had started talking about common trends in similar environments on different planets, but Ahsoka wasn't listening. Instead, she slowly reached her hand down and grabbed a decent size stone out of the dirt. In her mind, she pictured, as clearly as possible, throwing the stone at the colonel's chest. She did this for around thirty seconds, focusing on the path the stone would take form her hand to his breastplate, before, in a split second, she raised her arm and threw the stone along the previously imagined path.

It never impacted.

Instead, Marczak's arm came up almost as fast as hers had and intercepted the stone half a meter away from his chest. She stared as he took a few seconds to look down at the stone in his hand, realize what he had done, and drop the intercepted projectile like it was searing his palm.

"What was that for?!" He yelled incredulously.

Ahsoka just smiled back, smugly self-satisfied that she'd figured out his secret.

"You're Force sensitive!" She said. "That's why I can never read you, because you're blocking me!"

Marczak sighed heavily, dragging his hand down the side of his face as he did.

"Fine," He admitted. "I'm Force-sensitive. And you probably can't read me, since that's the only trick I can pull."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"I'm not very strong." He said, shrugging. "My reflexes are quick, but I can't do any Jedi tricks."

That makes sense, Ahsoka thought, If he was strong enough to be capable of, say, telekinesis, he would've been taken in by the Order when he was a baby. But then again, Marczak could do something she'd never seen a Jedi do, he could hide his thoughts and feelings from her without any apparent effort indefinitely.

"Except for the mental shield." She said, both curious and suspicious about his ability.

"Well, yea." He said, running his hand over his scalp. "But that's a bit different."

"How?"

"You don't… It's a long story…"

"We've got all night."

"Fine." He sighed. "If you really have to know. It all started when, about a month after Geonosis, Rep Intel caught wind of a Sep outpost being built on an isolated moon orbiting a gas giant called Yavin. Normally, with the war going how it was at that time, something like that would've slipped under the radar, but something about that system made the Jedi Council take interest. They put in a special request to the Chancellor for troops to back up the Jedi team they were going to send to investigate whatever it was the Seps were doing on that rock and destroy the outpost. I was a major at the time, working with the Coruscant Guard out of the old GAR HQ from back before they finished the compound on Coruscant, and Intel tapped me to lead the clone company going on the raid. The whole mission was blown from the beginning. We lost most of the company when we were forced down a hundred klicks short of our LZ by droid fighters. The jungle was too thick for them to pick us off from the air, but the going was slow, and we had no idea how to find the target. After three days, the Jedi disappeared without a trace."

He paused for a moment, staring, unfocused into the fire as if losing himself in the memory.

"That's when the dreams started. I'd never known, never even suspected, that I was force sensitive, but the dreams kept getting more vivid and there was this voice that kept calling out to me even when I was awake. Something dark lives on that moon, it clawed at my mind, whispered in my ear. It showed me terrible things, the worst atrocities of wars going back millennia. After a while, it led me to the Jedi, wanted to show me how it had broken them. The younger one, a Twi'lek, had killed his master, and…"

His voice caught in his throught.

"He ate him… gnawed the flesh from his bones. I didn't know what to do, so I just put one in the back of his head and burned the bodies. I realized then that the same thing was going to happen to me if I didn't figure out how to shut out the voice. It took a few days, but, gradually I was able to put up walls around my mind that blocked whatever it was out. After that, it wasn't too hard to find what was left of the Sep base. From what I could gather, they pulled most of their equipment out after we were shot down and only left a few dozen droids behind to deal with any survivors that might show up. I never found out what they were doing there, but command gave me a commendation and a promotion for my trouble."

When he had finished, Ahsoka had no idea what to say. What could she say to that? What did you say when someone opened up to you about such a traumatic experience? The silence stretched for what felt like an eternity as she searched for the right words. Finally, Ahsoka decided that there just weren't any. So she just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Wow…, just wow." She said. "How have I never heard about this. The Jedi Council…"

"Has no idea what really happened." Marczak said, cutting her off. "I left everything about what happened to those Jedi out of my report. As far as anyone on Coruscant is concerned, two Jedi were KIA as a result of enemy action and their remains were unrecoverable. The troopers who were there are sworn to secrecy. As far as I know, none of them has ever told another soul. And neither have I, until now."

"Then why did you tell me?" She said, asking the obvious question

He paused, looking thoughtful as if he was himself unsure why he'd told her.

"I don't know." He said finally. "I normally don't trust Jedi, but you're different… like Skywalker."

"I don't know what to say…" Ahsoka said, feeling humbled that Marczak would trust her like this so quickly. "Thank you, colonel."

"Ghes." He said, smiling. "Call me Ghes."

She smiled back. "Ghes."

 **Author's Notes:**

I wish I could draw. That doesn't have much to do with anything, I just wish I could draw.

All right, first things first, nonstop19, thank you for the review. I'm glad you consider this well written, that's something I mostly hear from professors about my research papers, and narrative storytelling is obviously quite a different animal. I don't know if you missed this in the prologue Author's notes (maybe you just didn't read them, I don't know), but this story is already finished up to Chapter Nine, and Ten through ~Twenty are in various stages of being drafted, plotted, etc. What I'm trying to say is that I'm definitely continuing it because a lot is already done, I'm just sticking to one chapter a week for various reasons.

On a more humorous note, something I noticed Monday (9/3/18) was that I apparently forgot to add character codes when I created this story. I've since added them, but it brings up a question I've been considering for a while now; how much does a character have to appear to warrant a character code? I ask because, while this story is primarily about Ahsoka and Ghes, more than a few other characters are going to appear. Anakin has already appeared in the Prologue and Chapter One, and he's going to be back before Part I is over, Rex makes an appearance in a few chapters, Padme even plays a small part. Do I add one or more of them to the character codes, or do I just stick with our lead and her love interest?

Now, that was supposed to lead into a discussion about the process behind me creating the character of Ghes Marczak, but when I started writing that, well… let's just say that it was threatening to turn into an essay I know very few people would want to read. Besides, I already kicked the beehive enough shitting on The Last Jedi, I'm not going to further tempt fate by explaining all my problems with Luxsoka.

So the only thing I feel needs to be discussed is Ghes's low-level Force sensitivity that is "revealed" in this chapter, not the mechanics of it, which are explained to a degree in story, but the thought process. The main criticism I've heard from test readers (i.e. Wolf and my other friends) is that, with Ghes already being rather remarkable as a Mandalorian and a non-clone officer in the GAR, it's sort of a "hat on a hat" (which Wolf insists is a common metaphor even though he's the only one that I've ever heard use it). I'll admit that I may have, in trying to make Ghes able to keep up with the characters around him, gone a little overboard in the badass department. This aspect, though, is meant to contribute to the story in a slightly larger way than "helps Ghes not be dead", hence the only unique thing about the character (in universe, alt least, I don't know if anyone else has done this something like this before), his "mental block" that prevents Force Users from reading him. This isn't unprecedented, like I said, Jedi can do a few things like this, though further refined to the point where they nearly vanish from the Force. In Ghes's case, this arose first from the question "what if Anakin or Obi Wan, or any other Jedi just so happened to be around Ahsoka and Ghes at the same time?". Well, they'd probably figure out something was going on between them pretty quick just from reading Ghes, wouldn't they?

Beyond that, it has been postulated (by Wolf) that creating a character who puts up semi-literal walls around his mind and emotions is at least partially me projecting about my own issues opening up to people. This could be true of course, if Stephen King has taught us anything, it's that author's projecting their own issues onto their characters isn't necessarily a bad thing (so long as every character doesn't end up being a recovering alcoholic author). There's other aspects as well, mostly in the spiritual/Force realm, but I want to talk about that when they comes up in story.

Well, that's all for this week. As always, favorite/followed if you're enjoying the story, and feel free to leave a review.

Also, something I just thought of that might be irrelevant but I want to say anyway; I don't read a lot of fanfiction, but I'm aware there are quite a few other places on the internet you can find it outside of . I'm probably not going to go to any of these other sites, mostly cause I don't have the time, but if anybody does and enjoys this story enough to want to spread it around, I'm okay with you doing that as long as I'm still credited as the author.

Just a thought.


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

The next day's march thankfully passed by without incident. They'd been delayed significantly already, between the attack and dealing with the aftermath, and they'd lost half a day. It appeared, however, that the Felucians didn't want anything more to do with them after the previous days ambush. Ahsoka didn't blame them, between her, the troopers, and Marczak, the Felucian war party had lost a dozen of its members, possibly more if any of those who escaped had suffered serious injuries. Without a similar incident to cause further delay, they managed to make good time, exiting the gorge in the late afternoon and setting up camp roughly ten klicks away from their objective by nightfall.

The camp they occupied was, as was normal for a military campsite, almost identical to the one they'd occupied they previous night, with slight variations in the perimeter to allow for different terrain. Also identical were the actions taken by the troopers once they were encamped, once again eating quickly and then dispersing to the perimeter either to sleep or to stand watch. That left Ahsoka, again, to sit with Marczak.

 _No_ , she thought, _Ghes_. He'd asked her to use his first name last night, after he'd told her about Yavin. Part of her thought it had been wrong to pry, especially after 'outing' his Force sensitivity. After all, she'd only known him for, what? Two weeks? But he hadn't seemed resentful about it, in fact he'd seemed _relieved_ after he'd told her. Ahsoka couldn't imagine carrying a secret like that around. Maybe he'd needed to get that off his chest, to trust someone, especially if he'd been telling the truth about her being the only person he'd ever told about the experience.

Either way, Ghes seemed to be better for it.

"…there weren't really that many bugs after we passed eight klicks." He said, wrapping up an animated description of his part in the Second Battle of Geonosis. "It turned out that Rip's tendon and quad had been sliced clean through, but he was fine after eight hours in the tank."

"Impressive," Ahsoka said. "though I can't believe you stumbled into the same wall we did."

"It's true, I swear." He said, holding his hands up in mock defense. "How else do you think it got on the maps?"

She laughed. "Then I guess I should thank you, at least we knew that wall _existed_ before we ran right into it."

"That's one way to look at it." He said, laughing as well.

"Can I ask you something, Ghes?"

He shrugged. "Shoot."

"How did you end up here?" She asked. "In the army, I mean."

"Truth is, I'm a mercenary." He said.

"Really?" Ahsoka asked. Ghes had never struck her as a mercenary, at least not the kind she was used to seeing fight alongside battle droids or guarding Separatist facilities.

"Really." He confirmed. "A few months before the war broke out, some senator's aide came to where I was working with _ner buir_ , my father, and offered me a job fighting for the Republic."

That was odd. Ahsoka might not have paid much attention to what was going on outside the Temple before the war, but she was certain that the GAR had basically appeared out of thin air. She'd never heard of any active recruiting before Geonosis.

"What senator?" She asked, curiosity peaked.

"I don't know." Ghes answered. "Never met him. All I know is that the paperwork checked out and I got paid. Eventually I ended up with a commission, I guess because it looks better than having a merc leading troops in the field, but I was just as surprised as everyone else when the Chancellor pulled an army out of his _shebs_."

"Do you at least know why you were recruited?"

"I guess it must have had something to do with my background." He shrugged. "I worked in private security, did a little bounty hunting. That's why they had me with the Coruscant Guard at first, I spent half my life before the war started in the undercity on one job or another."

"So you're _from_ Coruscant." She guessed.

"Yea." Ghes said, nodding. "I grew up in Galactic City, but _buir_ kept as close to tradition as he could raising me."

"You don't wear the armor though?" She asked.

"That was my choice." He said, smiling slightly. "Republic's never been particularly kind to _Mando'ade_ , especially not Jedi, and my cultural pride isn't worth the trouble."

"If it's that bad, why did you join up in the first place?"

"Because Coruscant's my home, my family's there." Ghes said. "Not a very _mando_ thing to say, I know, but I guess I'm a little sentimental. Besides, I've seen what the Corporate Sector Alliance and the Trade Federation do to worlds."

Ahoska nodded grimly. She'd seen it all too often, worlds looted and strip-mined as much to line the pockets of the Confederacy's corporate backers as to feed their war machine. There was a reason beings like Nute Gunray and Wat Tambor always seemed to be at the center of the worst Separatist war crimes.

"What about you?" Ghes asked.

"What?" She responded, confused.

"Why'd you join up?" He said.

Ahsoka barely stopped herself from scoffing at the question. It would have been rude, even if Ghes had asked a stupid question.

"I'm a Jedi." She said, matter-of-factly. "It's our duty to serve and protect the Republic."

Ghes scoffed at her answer, something which both surprised and aggravated Ahsoka.

"Come on," He said. "don't give me that…"

"What?" She said, defensively. "It's true!"

"Okay, I guess the better question then is, why do you keep fighting? I've been doing this a long time, Ahsoka, long enough to know that you truly want to be here. That's not something I can say about every Jedi, hell, every _officer_ , I've met."

It wasn't a question she had to think long about, because, in a way, it was one she'd asked herself a long time ago.

"I keep fighting for them, the clones, the _men_ , under my command." She said with as much resolve and conviction as she could muster. "I keep fighting because they do."

Ghes's smile as she spoke was far warmer than Ahsoka had seen it before. She'd even go so far to say that it was… affectionate.

"Good answer." He said, still smiling. "Home, family, duty, those are all good reasons to _start_ fighting, but you have to _keep_ fighting for your men. You give them everything you have because you owe it to them to do your damnedest to make sure as many of them make it home as possible. Even if their brothers are the only home these boys have."

Ahsoka smiled back despite the somber tone Ghes had ended on.

"Anyway," He continued. "I'm glad General Skywalker reassigned you. Me and the boys get along well, but it's nice to meet interesting new people once in a while."

"Thanks." She said, feeling a little flush. "It doesn't seem like your men feel that way, though."

"Just give 'em a little time." He said. "They'll warm up to you eventually."

Ghes checked the chrono as he rose from his seat.

"I'm going to stay up till the next watch shift, but you should get some sleep." He said, stretching.

"No, I'll stay…" Ahsoka started to protest.

"That's an _order_ , commander."

"I don't know, Colonel." Stalker said as he scanned the compound wall through his scope. "It looks to me like our intel was bad."

Even without macrobinoculars, Ahsoka could see the sharpshooter was right. Separatist presence, at least at this outpost, was far from "drawn down". Even calling the veritable fortress before them something as mundane as an outpost seemed a disservice.

Fortunately, the lack of experience and training so common among Separatist officers was evident in the fortress's location. The isolated "island" within the bed of a long-dry river would, to the untrained eye, appear a good defensive position for the purposely remote command center. A more experienced commander, however, would immediately recognize the ridgeline which stood several hundred meters away from, and provided a decent overlook of, the Eastern side of the facility as the vulnerability it was. To make matters worse for themselves, the Seps had only cut away the foliage on their side of the ridgeline, leaving in place the concealment Ahsoka, Ghes, and the ARFs were currently exploiting.

"Hey." Ahsoka said, elbowing Ghes as an idea began to form in her mind. "Can I see the binocs?"

"Be my guest." Ghes said as he passed the bulky viewing device to her.

Binocs in hand, Ahsoka swept her magnified vision across the fortification. As she looked beyond the far wall, a smile crept its way across her lips and her idea, became a plan.

If Ghes had been resistant to her idea, his men had been outright hostile to it. Ahsoka understood why, it was a little unorthodox, and extremely risky. If it failed, or if to many things went wrong, most of them would probably end up dead. In a way, it was a lot like something her master might try. And she had the feeling that that, more than anything else, was why Ghes eventually agreed to try it.

The Seps had been inconsistent in enforcing the "clear zone" around their fortifications, going so far as to allow the fungal tree line to grow right up to the wall farthest from the ridgeline. Ahsoka didn't know why they were so negligent, perhaps they thought that the bioluminescent qualities of the foliage negated its benefits as concealment. Or maybe the officer in charge of the base couldn't be bothered to fill out the paperwork required to send out engineer squads every week. Whatever the reason for the neglect, Ahsoka wouldn't hesitate to exploit it.

It was a simple, if time consuming, matter for her, Ghes, and his command squad to circumvent the fortress perimeter. Equally time consuming was their approach to the wall through the glowing jungle. But this task, as well as the tasks to follow, were simplified by one fact Ahsoka knew very well; tinnies were consistent.

A droid mind would rarely, if ever, consider it a worthwhile effort to vary the routes and timing of their patrols. The mechanical mind simply couldn't grasp the security flaws such a routine created, as, to them, the only thing that mattered was that every square meter of ground was covered by patrols. This inability to comprehend an idea that organic soldiers took as a given made any patrol schedule set by a droid, which they almost always where, predictable. Thus, it was easy enough for Ahsoka to figure out said schedule after observing them for only a few hours.

This knowledge, while useful for their approach as they knew when the wall would be clear of sentries, would be vital to their infiltration.

"Ready?" Ahsoka asked the trooper nearest to her, Rip, when they reached the base of the West wall.

"I'm not so sure about this, colonel." The clone said to his commander. "It doesn't seem reliable."

Ahsoka couldn't help but feel a little offended by the tech sergeant's lack of confidence in her and her plan, even if she had similar misgiving she was trying very hard to suppress. Luckily, Ghes appeared to have no such doubts.

"Don't be such a _hut'uun_ , Rip." He said, dismissive of the trooper's concern. "I'm sure the commander has done this before. Right?"

"A few times." She said, stretching the truth a little. "Mostly with Rex."

"See?" Ghes said to his men. "Easy."

Now _that_ wasn't true. While she had done maneuvers like this before, those feats hadn't required nearly the same level of precision. On top of that, the wall looked significantly larger from the base than it had from the ridgeline, which, she had to admit, hurt her confidence more than a little.

The clones seemed to sense her misgivings as they remained unconvinced by Ghes's reassurances. Seeing this, Ghes once again stepped up.

"All right," He said. "If none of you want to man up, then I'll go first.

Despite his crouched position, Ghes did his best to swagger as he moved passed his men and close enough to Ahsoka that he could speak to her without them hearing.

"Don't worry," He said as quietly as his helmet's vocoder would allow. "you've got this."

She smiled, encouraged by Ghes's expression of confidence in her abilities, as she began to center herself in preparation for what she had to do next.

"Do you want me to get a running start?" Ghes asked, already backing up a few steps.

"Sure." Ahsoka replied, though she was almost certain it wouldn't make any difference.

Stopping about a meter and a half away from her, Ghes hopped in place a few times, as if to amp himself up. Ahsoka, for her part, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and focused on Ghes in the Force.

"Ready?" Ghes asked,

Ahsoka took one more breath before responding. "Ready."

Ghes began at a run, quickly crossing the short distance between them, then squatted, and, as he was about to spring upward, Ahsoka seized him in an invisible grasp and propelled him upward. He easily cleared the top of the wall, and, as his path arched downward, Ahsoka once again took him in her phantom grip and gently lowered him to the walkway atop the fortification.

For what seemed an endless moment after Ahsoka reopened her eyes, Ghes failed to appear. Her heart stopped as her mind ran through everything that could have gone wrong. Maybe she hadn't slowed him down enough, he had been heavier than she'd expected. Or worse, she could have overshot the walkway entirely, dropping him from the height of the wall to the hard duracrete surface beyond.

This fear was replaced with relief, and a little pride, the moment she saw Ghes's helmeted head silhouetted against the night sky as he peaked over the outer edge of the wall, signaled the all clear, and waved for her and the clones to follow.

Ahsoka's successful lifting of Ghes seemed to satisfy the troopers' concerns, and Rip was the next one in line. She too felt more confident in the maneuver, and managed to repeat her success with Niner, Stalker, and Vor all in quick succession. Her own ascension was the simplest, with her clearing the wall by herself in one Force-assisted leap.

Once atop the wall, she found that Ghes had already located the way down from the fortifications and into the rest of the facility. He began leading them down almost immediately after Ahsoka landed on the walkway, and they began to carefully pick their way toward their objective.

Most Separatist bases were poorly lit at night, as their battle droids' photoreceptors saw well into the infrared spectrum and thus didn't need conventional lighting. ARF trooper armor, however, was coated with a paint that made them very difficult to see in the infrared. This put Ahsoka in the position of having to move along walls while her companions attempted to shield her from potential observation with their armored bodies.

Doing this, and once again exploiting predictable droid patrol routes, the group managed to avoid detection long enough to locate their objective, the command headquarters building. Located near the center of the facility, this structure would house most of the organic officers, the droid central command computer, and the computer memory core where all manner of sensitive materials pertaining to Separatist forces on Felucia would be stored.

They chose to infiltrate the headquarters through a loading dock on the south end of the building, guarded by a single sentry and a squadron of non-sentient logistics droids. Once inside, it didn't take long to find their way to the basement and the computer core. Not for the first time, Ahsoka wondered if anyone in the GAR or the CIS realized that the two militaries' heavy use of prefab structures, sometimes from the same manufacturer, made it so that spies, infiltrators, and saboteurs could navigate their facilities just as easily as their own soldiers. The final obstacle separating them from their objective was a locked door. They stacked up along the wall to one side of the entryway, with Ghes closest to the hatch, Ahsoka immediately following him, and the clones behind her.

After a moment, Ghes leaned back and tapped her with his elbow, a prearranged signal for her to "check" the room. Ahsoka stretched out her awareness in the force enough to encompass the room beyond the wall against which she leant. She found one presence, an organic officer, Neimoidian. From his mind, she could make out the impression of four droids, two at consoles in front of the officer, and two guarding the door behind him.

Ahsoka relayed this to Ghes by tapping him on the upper arm, once for the officer, then four times in rapid succession for the droids. She could hear Ghes's grip tighten on his rifle as she tapped out her report. It was the organic, she guessed, he was a complication. Mostly unaffected by a droid popper's electromagnetic discharge, the Neimoidian would necessitate a less stealthy approach. They had to go loud.

On a gesture from Ghes, Ahsoka switched to the other side of the door along with Stalker and Niner. Rip and Vor shifted closer to their commander, the former passing him a small device Ahsoka assumed to be an electronic lock pick. Ghes proceeded to make a few hand signals at her, and, while she basically understood, she wished she could hear the closed channel he'd no doubt used to tell the clones the same plan.

Ahsoka pulled her sabers off her belt, holding both in a reverse grip at the ready. Ghes jammed the code breaker into the door's lock, then pulled a flash grenade from his belt and armed the device. When the door slid open a moment later, the grenade was the first thing through, detonating in a burst of blinding light in the air next to the Neimodian. Ahsoka followed the weapon, stepping through the door and activating her lightsabers, impaling the droid guards to either side of the entryway. Then she ducked down, allowing Ghes, next through the door, to shoot over her. He dropped the two droid technicians with a round each, then put two through the back of the still dazed officer.

"Clear." Ghes said before the Neimodian's body had even hit the floor. "Stalker, Niner, on the door. Vor, move this junk. Rip, get me that data."

"Anything specific, colonel." Rip asked, pushing the limp body of a droid off one of the consoles.

"All of it." Ghes replied. "Or as much as you can get."

As the clones moved to carry out his orders, Ghes removed his helmet and turned to Ahsoka. He was anxious, she could tell, and rightfully so. Going loud had been brought up as the worst-case scenario during the brief time they'd had to figure out the plan for this little information raid.

"Is it too much to ask that nobody heard that." He asked.

Ahsoka quickly extended her awareness out to the rest of the building and found they would be having no such luck.

"On the floor above us." She reported. "Someone's going for the alarm."

Her warning was proved correct a moment later when the room was filled with the wail of an alarm siren.

"Of course." Ghes grumbled before calling over his shoulder. "Rip?!"

"The systems going into lockdown!" Rip replied urgently. "It'll take at least fifteen minutes to work around. Maybe ten if we're lucky!"

"We're never lucky." Ghes said, pulling his helmet back on and retrieving his rifle from off the nearby console. "Boys, we're about to have company!"

Ghes was right, both about the company and the trouble Rip would have with the lockdown. Fourteen minutes later, Rip was still working at the console and they hallway outside was rapidly filling with battle droids assaulting from both directions.

"Now would be a good time, Rip!" Ghes yelled, the desperation in his voice a hint that another group of droids had arrived.

"Seriously, Rip!" Niner said, ducking back into the room to avoid blaster fire. "We have to go now!"

"Hold on!" Rip said, tapping his fingers nervously on the edge of the console. "There! Transferring now!"

"All right!" Ghes exclaimed. "Now we just need a way out of here."

Ahsoka, frustrated that she'd had little to contribute since they'd breached the core control room, smiled.

"Stand aside boys." She said, moving in front of the door and readying her sabers. "I'll handle this!"

Ahsoka activated her weapons as she dashed out into the hallway. Springing from wall to wall as she either dodged or batted aside blaster bolts, it took her twenty seconds to get in amongst the droids, and less than a minute after that to dismantle them. Her smile widened as the last droid on her side crumpled and she felt Niner's sheer awe at what she'd done in the Force. It was easy to tell that the trooper hadn't worked with Jedi much.

Not to be outdone, Ghes rolled out into the hall, grenade in hand, loosing the device as soon as he reached his feet. The weapon spun through the air, impacting the metal chest of a droid near the middle of the pack before exploding in a shower of fire and shrapnel. Ahsoka wondered for a moment why he hadn't just used a droid popper, until the smell of singed human flesh and melted synth-fabric reached her nose.

"Move!" Ghes yelled after the flash and fire of the detonation had subsided. "Commander, take point!"

Ahsoka led the way out of the headquarters, making short work of the few battle droids and officers that crossed their path. With the alarm already sounded and stealth no longer a concern, she decided to lead them through the closer main entrance rather than go back through the loading dock that had been their point of entry.

Outside, the night was far brighter than it had been. Illumination flares now hung over the facility on their miniature parachutes, shining like suns and casting odd shadows off structures and parked vehicles. Off on the perimeter, Ahsoka could hear blaster fire, and detonations from light mortar rounds.

This was the rest of Ghes's men, who'd been ordered to open up on the East wall as soon as the Separatists raised any alarm. The Seps, or any outside observer for that matter, could easily assume that they were being assaulted by a far larger force than was actually out their, given the volume of fire that could be seen headed in their direction. Ahsoka knew, however, that there were only twenty men out there. Most of the blaster fire was coming from overcharged hand blasters wired to small remotes the ARFs had set up along the ridgeline while the infiltration team had made their way around the base perimeter. These devices weren't especially effective, at least not from the range they were being employed from, but they were loud, bright, and put out a lot of fire over a lifespan of a few hours before self-destructing. The confusion this assault caused among the Separatist forces, when combined with the internal alarm, resulted in conflicting orders being delivered to the droids, with company sized units moving in circles as they were constantly redirected. Much like their predictable patrol routes, this complete chaos was easy to exploit.

That was, until they came across droids that knew _exactly_ what they were doing.

"Commando droids!" Ahsoka heard Ghes yell as she reached the stairwell up to the top of the West wall.

Turning, she saw half a dozen of the nimble BX-series machines dodging from cover to cover as they rapidly approached Ghes, who had been bringing up the rear. He'd turned to fire on them, ducking behind a stack of crates roughly fifty meters from were Ahsoka was standing. She was about to go back to help him when Vor stopped her.

"Colonel said to get over the wall!" He said, sounding as reluctant as Ahsoka felt about the prospect of leaving him. "He'll be right behind us."

Still unsure, Ahsoka glanced back at Ghes. One of the BX droids was already down, and the others had stopped advancing…

"All right." She said before turning away from the ongoing firefight, still reluctant, but at the very least willing to get the troopers out before coming back for Ghes.

The five ascended the stairway quickly, urged on by the knowledge that, the quicker they got over the wall, the less time Ghes would have to hold off the commandos on his own. The descent for the troopers was simple, as Ahsoka only had to let her companions jump and then slow their falls.

"Colonel!" Ahsoka yelled into her commlink after Niner became the last trooper to hit the ground. "Let's go!"

She turned to the interior side of the walkway and looked down at Ghes, still holding his position. He looked up at her for a moment, then began to back toward the stairwell, firing as he went. The commando droids took this as an opportunity to resume their advance. Ghes, now away from cover and within ten meters of the wall, looked up at her again and Ahsoka waved for him to hurry up. He nodded, turned back toward the droids, and was struck three times in the chest by rifle fire.

"Ghes!" Ahsoka yelled as the man was knocked onto his back.

Without thinking, Ahsoka flipped off the wall, activating her lightsabers in mid-air, and landed astride Ghes's body in a protective stance.

"Commander," Vor's voice yelled out over the commlink. "what's happening?"

"Col. Marczak's down!" She responded, deflecting a barrage of blaster bolts back into a BX.

"He's hit?" Vor said, confused. "But his biometrics are…"

The rest of the clone's words were drowned out by a volley of rifle fire, a volley that came from underneath Ahsoka.

"What the…?" She said, looking down through her legs to see Ghes pointing his rifle. "You're alive?"

"It'll take more than a few rust buckets to kill me." He said, probably sounding more pained than he'd wanted to.

"How…" She started, before thinking better of it. This wasn't the time for that question. "Can you move?"

"Yeah." Ghes responded, shifting back so he could stand up behind Ahsoka.

"Then go!" She said. "I'll cover you!"

It took Ghes longer than it probably should've to get up, but once he did he didn't seem to be in as bad of shape as she'd thought. He reached the top of the wall without issue, and hesitated only briefly when Ahsoka told him to jump. She took a risk and jumped with him, slowing both their descents at the same time. The risk paid off and they both hit the ground running for the cover of the deep jungle.

"Thanks for the save." Ghes said as he ran alongside Ahsoka.

"I owed you one from yesterday." She said, grinning. "But how are you still alive?"

With less incoming fire to worry about, she took a few seconds to look closer at his wound. There wasn't one, no blood, no hole in, just carbon scoring from the impact of three rounds in a tight grouping over Ghes's heart.

" _Beskar_ alloy." He said, tapping the now slightly askew extra plate attached to his chest.

That explained it _. Beskar_ , Mandalorian iron, was one of toughest substances in the galaxy, Ahsoka had even heard that lightsabers had trouble scratching it.

"I thought you said you didn't wear Mandalorian armor anymore?" She said accusingly.

"Doesn't mean I have to rely on the _osik_ they issue us." Ghes countered. "Besides, it's just the one plate."

Ahsoka shook her head. Despite her slight irritation at Ghes, she was glad for the extra plate. She was growing quite fond of the odd Mando officer.

"I'll tell you one thing, though." Ghes continued, starting to huff from the exertion of the run. "This thing is damned heavy!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Starting, as always, with the response to last week's review; Hybrid301, thank you very much. As much as I have always appreciated my (relatively) long time readers, it's encouraging to know that this new version of my little story has succeeded in reaching an at least slightly wider audience. And, as always compliments are most welcome, if only because they help shore up my rather fragile confidence in my writing abilities.**

 **Speaking of low self-confidence, this was a chapter I was particularly nervous about publishing. "Why when it was so obviously awesome?", you may ask. Well, I'll tell you. It's because the entire raid on the Separatist outpost was written after an over year long slump that started a few months after I'd started writing this revamped story. That means that everything from that point forward until the end of Part I was written during a writing blitz I went on between March and May of this year (2018).**

 **I've been worried ever since I started publishing Live Well Lived that, because of the long gap, there would be some change that might turn people off. A little paranoid, I know, but like I said, I'm pretty insecure about my "art".**

 **Let's see, what else is there to talk about with this chapter?**

 **Making Ghes a mercenary was something I didn't really think of until a friend of mine (not Wolf) suggested it. I have to admit, I'm kind of embarrassed I never thought of it before, considering how much more believable than any of the other explanations I've tried.**

 **I know the "why we fight" speech Ghes makes is a little corny, but that's something that means a lot to me as a current soldier and aspiring officer (once I finish my bachelor's), so I'll ask you to indulge me a little on that front.**

 **Don't nitpick my lore when it comes to some of the equipment in this. Things like infrared absorbent paint and automated blaster decoys are mostly made up by me, though I try to keep within in-universe logic when doing anything like that. Retaliation (Ghes's Acclamator), for instance, is based loosely off ideas of ship system automation experiments suggested by the Katana Fleet from Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy. Everything I invent can always be at the least loosely justified with Legends lore.**

 **Finally, Ghes's "fake out death" from towards the end. I honestly didn't think of it like that until a friend pointed it out to me. That was just always how that scene went, and I thought it was rather obvious that he wouldn't die or be seriously wounded this soon into the story. Other than that, I guess it is kind of pointless, an demonstration of one of the reasons Ghes hasn't bought it yet. But beskar is one of the more well known Mando trademarks, and even if he doesn't wear full beskar'gam for uniformity/avoiding prejudice sake, that doesn't mean he wouldn't have the good sense to strap a spare plate to his chest a la the additive plates you can see on the Phase 1.5 armor some ARCs are sporting during the Battle of Kamino.**

 **Side note: Despite what TCW would have you believe, ARC isn't a title troopers earn. Like everything else in the Grand Army, ARC is a role clones are bred for. However, I would be remiss not to mention that infantry troopers were cross trained into special forces roles when replacements couldn't be cloned quickly enough. And it was also established (by supplementary material) that Rex, Cody, Baccara, and a number of other clone officers were retrained by ARC trooper Alpha to be more independent thinking (more like ARCs) and thus better able to assist unexperienced Jedi Generals with the challenges of fighting a galactic-scale war.**

 **Now that I've successfully nerded out over technical details of personnel assignment in a fictional army, I think that's it for this week. As always, favorite/follow if you enjoyed (though if you're still actively reading at this point you probably already have) and I encourage you to leave a review.**


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

Ahsoka was glad when they finally left Felucia.

One consequence of her plan that she hadn't fully thought through was the hunt for their party the Separatists would embark on after they'd figured out what had happened. In her defense, though, this ultimately wasn't that inconvenient, as the vast amount of dense jungle their pursuers had to search made it very unlikely that any patrol would stumble across them.

Still, Ghes insisted that they take a highly circuitous and roundabout path back to their landing zone after the first time they heard a vulture droid buzzing the canopy overhead.

While Ahsoka had to admit that this was probably the right call, it added an extra day and a half onto their travel time. That extra forty hours spent trudging through the heat and mud of the Felucian jungle had somehow seemed the longest and most unpleasant. It was son bad that she'd practically cheered when she recognized the hulking shape of the camouflage-net covered Nu-class among the trees.

Back aboard Retaliation, Ahsoka recognized a shift in the ARF's attitude towards her. It was something she'd first noticed shortly after their return, when she'd heard Niner regaling a group of his comrades with a surprisingly detailed description of her destroying thirty battle droids in less than then a minute outside the computer core.

Ahsoka had gathered from Ghes's treatment of the man that Niner hadn't been with the battalion for very long. She suspected that the other troopers had been similarly distant towards him when he'd first been assigned here, and that him "talking her up" to his comrades was his way of helping her out. She'd admit, though, that this probably wouldn't have occurred to her if not for the suspicious absence of Ghes accomplishing something similar with a well placed detonator in Niner's version of events.

Whatever the trooper's intentions may have been, the result was the same. Knowledge of Ahsoka's performance during the raid spread quickly through the ranks, and she started to be treated differently because of it.

Before Felucia, Ghes's men had paid little mind to her outside her official capacity as battalion executive officer. Off duty, they almost never spoke to her, preferring either to keep to themselves unless Ghes was present. Even on-duty, they used Ghes as an intermediary unless they absolutely had to address Ahsoka directedly. The change from this to the open comradery she'd become used to with the rest of the 501st was actually quite jarring, and she'd almost choked on her lunch the first time Vor tried to tell her a joke during chow.

Ahsoka became curious enough about the sudden shift in the troopers' attitude that she asked Ghes about it.

"It's because you didn't die." He said, as if it were the answer to her question was obvious.

"What?" She said, confused and a little annoyed by his response.

"Most of our casualties are replacements or transfers on their first time out." Ghes clarified. "So, the boys don't make a habit of getting to close to anyone until after they've survived at least one fire fight."

"Oh." She said beginning to understand. That sort of sentiment was common among soldiers during war time, she knew, but she'd always thought it was only directed at green troops. "They do know I've been in combat before, right?"

"So have a lot of the troopers who end up here." Ghes countered. "Niner was the first replacement in a long while to come directly from Kamino. But the boys still want to see every one of them get through one scrap alive. They're just cynical like that."

"I guess that makes sense." Ahsoka said, though it still seemed odd to her.

"That's just the reality of our line of work." Ghes said, suddenly appearing very melancholy. "Most of the replacements we get aren't trained for what we do, hell, I was never really trained for any of this. But we push on and make do because we have to."

Ahsoka wasn't sure what she was supposed to say to that, and she was kind of sorry she'd asked him about any of this in the first place. So she just nodded while Ghes sat across from her, looking reflective for another few moments before finally regaining his focus and straightening up.

"But now you're getting me all depressed." He said, forcing a smile she knew wasn't genuine and standing up. "Why don't you meet me down in the gym in fifteen? We can do something to get my mind off all this heavy osik."

The Retaliation's "gym" was more of an empty cargo bay that Ghes's and his men had filled with a variety of exercise equipment, much of it improvised, arranged around an open area of matted floor.

"Commander!" Ghes called out when he saw Ahsoka enter the space. "So glad you could join us!"

He was standing in the middle of the matted are, which Ahsoka assumed was a ring, apparently having changed into his armor. Around him, clones stopped what they were doing and also turned to look at her.

"So," Ahsoka said, feeling slightly self-conscious as she made her way over to the colonel. "what did you want to do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ghes said, grinning as he gestured at the ring around them. "We're going to fight."

"You want to spar?" She said, disbelievingly. "With me?"

"What's the matter, commander?" Ghes responded, smiling wickedly. "Don't think you can take me?"

"No," Ahsoka snorted derisively. "I know you can't take me."

"Probably not." Ghes said, laughing. "Not when you can toss me around like a ragdoll just by thinking about it. But without all those fancy powers…"

Ahsoka saw where he was going with this. If she refrained from using any sort of telekinetic attacks, a fight between her and Ghes would come down to their individual skill at arms. That still didn't mean it would be an even fight, she was willing to bet she was much faster than he was, but it would at least be a fair fight.

"It's your funeral." Ahsoka said with a shrug.

"All right then." Ghes said, clapping his hands together and seeming perhaps too excited for someone who was about to get their ass thoroughly whooped.

He moved over to the edge of the ring and knelt down to unlatch a long, grey case sitting just outside the boundary. Ghes rummaged around in the case for several seconds before finally pulling out two items, a small metallic cylinder and a meter and a half long dull grey metal staff.

"Here." He said, tossing the smaller object to Ahsoka. "This is for you."

Once the cylinder was in her hand, she recognized it almost immediately as the unadorned hilt of a training lightsaber. About twenty centimeters long and made of simple, machined durasteel, it was the kind the practice weapon the Jedi Order had hundreds of.

"Where'd you get this?" She asked, genuinely curious. While there were many of these "weapons" throughout the Jedi Temple in training areas and the hands of younglings, they were still incredibly difficult to come by even on the black market.

"Some Death Watch flunky came at me with it on Alderaan." Ghes said, waving dismissively. "Long story, but what matters is that it works."

Accepting Ghes's explanation of the weapons origin, or at least that that was all he knew about it, she thumbed the activation switch and saw that it did indeed work, as a pure white blade subsequently sprung to life from the emitter nozzle. Swinging it a few times to test the weight and balance, she found it, satisfactory. Different from her own blades, obviously, but she didn't expect the same level of comfort with the mass-produced hilt as she had with those she'd constructed by hand.

"I only have the one, though." Ghes continued. "I hope that's okay."

"It's fine." Ahsoka reassured him.

It had been a while since she'd fought with a single blade, but she was certain that she hadn't lost any of her old moves in that time. What worried her was Ghes's weapon, an electro-staff. She wasn't very familiar with the weapon, having only fought against the IG-100 MagnaGuard droids that typically wielded them a few times. Somehow, she knew Ghes wouldn't wield his staff in quite the same way as the acrobatic machines.

Ghes moved to the center of the ring.

"I'm setting this to low power." He said, adjusting a dial on his staff. "The shock will hurt pretty bad, but it won't cause any real harm. Probably."

"Don't worry," She said. "I'll be fine."

"Just thought I'd warn you." He said. "You ready?"

"Not really. How are we doing this? Points? Falls?"

"How about you just tell me when you've had enough?" Ghes said, smiling wickedly as he hit the button activating the electrodes at either end of his staff. Fields of yellow tinted energy crackled to life and arced around tips of the weapon, creating an ozone smell reminiscent of blasterfire.

Ahsoka shrugged and settled into her own fighting stance. A crowd had formed around them as they'd been preparing, with the troopers who'd been spread around the compartment, as well as a few who looked like they'd come from their duty stations, standing around the ring in hushed anticipation. It made her wonder if this sort of thing was a regular occurrence.

She made the first move, advancing wearily toward Ghes as he drew a figure eight in the air with his staff. Ahsoka leapt the last half meter, hoping to negate the superior reach of the electrostaff by closing the gap before he could react, and slashed downward. Ghes, having already built momentum, knocked the blow aside easily and followed through with the back end of his weapon, forcing her to jump back out of range of the staff. Surprisingly, at least to Ahsoka, Ghes didn't press his advantage.

He was testing her then, trying to feel her out. It was good to know Ghes recognized how dangerous she was. In a way, it was almost flattering.

Ahsoka committed more to her next attack, launching a flurry of blows from as many different angles as she could manage without overextending herself. Somehow, though, Ghes managed to block, parry, or sidestep every one of her strikes. He was much faster with that staff then she'd imagined he could be and knew how to use the extra reach and blocking surface of the weapon to great effect. She recognized now that the direct approach wasn't going to work, she had to change up her strategy.

Before she could figure out what that new approach was going to be though, Ghes decided it was his turn to go on the offensive.

He lunged forward, jabbing out toward her chest with the end of his staff. Ahsoka sidestepped, batting the energized point of the weapon aside. But Ghes turned with the parry, and to late she realized she'd played right into his hand as he let the momentum of the deflected point carry the other around to strike her in the upper calve. She cried out in surprise and pain, as the force and shock of the blow combined to collapse the struck leg, sending her onto her back.

"Dead." Ghes said flatly, bringing one end of his staff close enough that she could feel the faint heat of the energy field on the side of her face.

Silently, she cursed herself for underestimating Ghes. She'd reacted to his blows as they were happening, not before as she normally would. His stupid mental block kept her from anticipating his attacks, so fighting him was like fighting a droid. A droid with all the intelligence and creativity of an organic.

And now Ahsoka could hear quiet laughter all around her. The crowd gathered to watch the spectacle of the two sparring had grown significantly in the short time since they'd started. From the sound of it, many had gotten here just in time to see her get knocked on her ass.

She couldn't stand for that, now, could she?

Ghes had made a mistake "killing" her. It had forced his legs within arms' reach of where she lay on the mat. Not a problem if she'd actually been dead, but a big problem when she was still very much alive.

Ahsoka spun on her back, swinging out both legs to sweep Ghes's out from under him. He slammed hard into the matted floor, and she rolled on top of him. Straddling his midsection, she pinned his staff to his chest.

"Dead." Ahsoka said smugly, holding the training saber to Ghes's neck.

The laughter that drew from their audience was anything but quiet.

Ghes smirked up at her, then used the pinned staff to launch her up and off his chest. She landed on her feet less than a meter away, but still too far for her to pounce back on him before he could reach his feet.

The two combatants began to circle each other, both now far warier of the other than they had been. Ahsoka decided that her best chance was to combine her two previous strategies. She needed to get in close, then keep hammering at him until he made a mistake. Getting that close now that Ghes was on the alert was easier said than down, but she managed it by feinting an overhead blow to draw his attention high before in low. He was able to bring his staff back down quickly enough to stop a potentially painful blow to his ribs, but by then she'd succeeded in getting close enough that he couldn't effectively strike back.

Now that she had him back on the defensive, Ahsoka didn't let up, unleashing blow after blow. Ghes wasn't out yet, though, managing to block her attacks even if he couldn't retaliate. But he was slowing, she could see it.

Only a matter of time now, she thought, sooner or later he has to make a mistake.

That inevitable mistake came in the form of a block that overextended when she pulled back the strike he'd intended to stop at the last moment. Wasting no time, Ahsoka exploited the opening, ducking under Ghes's arm and aiming a powerful strike at the back of his legs…

And then Ghes's elbow struck her in the jaw.

The next thing Ahsoka knew, she was flat on her back, vision clearing to reveal the point of an electrostaff hovering an inch from her face.

"Dead."

Ahsoka blinked hard a few times, flashes of color still clearing from the edges of her vision.

"You sucker punched me!" She said, glowering angrily up at him. "That's not fair."

"That wasn't a punch." Ghes countered, deactivating his staff. "It was an elbow. Besides, war isn't fair."

He reached out his hand to help her up, but Ahsoka, still pissed, didn't take it. Instead, she grabbed Ghes by the forearm and tricep, braced her legs against his chest plate, and flipped him. He landed hard, an audible gasp escaping as the air was knocked out of him, and Ahsoka rolled through, coming to a stop on his chest.

"I guess it isn't." She said, smiling smugly down at Ghes's still shocked expression.

Ghes's face recovered a moment later, and he began laughing.

"Should've seen that one coming!" He said as he tried to stand up.

Ahsoka slid off the man's chest, allowing him to stand. He gripped at his side through his armor, and Ahsoka worried that she may have reinjured his ribs. Then her jaw began to ache, and suddenly she didn't feel bad about it anymore.

"I think that's enough for today." Ghes said, wincing and still clinging at his side.

"Are you okay?" Ahsoka asked, rubbing at her jaw.

"Ribs still bruised from Felucia." He answered through gritted teeth. "How's your jaw?"

"Well, it hurts," She said, perhaps a little too accusingly. "but I'll live."

"Sorry about that." He said sheepishly. "I may have gotten a little carried away…"

"You think?" She said sarcastically.

"If it's any consolation," Ghes continued. "if I hadn't thrown that elbow, you would have had me."

"Doesn't really make me feel any better."

"…and you may have also have bruised another one of my ribs."

"Now that makes me feel better."

The troopers had dispersed for the most part, either returning to their own training or whatever post they'd come from. Ahsoka out of the ring and gym with Ghes, who still looked pained as he moved.

"So," He said, wincing. "you up for doing that on a regular basis?"

"Really?" She said, gesturing at the hand still gripping his side. "You sure you'd live through that?"

"This is nothing," Ghes responded dismissively. "A few painkillers and another shot of bacta and I'll be right as rain."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. She'd seen Anakin pull the same tough guy routine more times than she could count, normally from a stretcher.

"Sure." She said. "We can spar again if you want."

"Don't act like you're doing me a favor." Ghes scoffed. "You need practice just as much as I do.'

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked incredulously.

"You're slow." He answered. "Been fighting nothing but droids for too long."

"I'm faster than you!" She snapped back.

"I have almost half a meter and at least a kilo on you." Ghes said. "Of course you're faster than me. But I still got you twice, didn't I?"

"Once." She corrected. "The second time was a dirty trick."

"That was a cheap shot." Ghes said, smiling wickedly. "But don't you worry, if you want to see dirty tricks, I got plenty of those to."

That Ahsoka did believe.

 **Author's Notes:**

Getting right into things; Hybrid301, thank you once again, I'm glad Ahsoka came across as sufficiently badass for your standards.

jensen6, I'm glad you to are enjoying my work and thank you for that small bit of criticism. By "touch ups", I'm assuming you mean the minor spelling/grammar mistakes that somehow manage to slip past my exhaustive editing process. I am aware of many of them now, but am likely to put off fixing for now why I focus on writing Part II.

As for this week's chapter, it is again a scene that has existed since the earliest conception of this story, and one I'm still very fond of.

That being said, I understand how some people could be put off by a relationship between two people where one of their primary bonding activities is beating the crap out of each other for fun.

What else can I say, though, except that it makes sense. Jedi like sparing almost as much as Mandalorians do, it's one of the surprisingly many things the two groups have in common. On top of that, Ahsoka and Ghes both live very combat focused lives, and, well, the only other thing I can think of that Ahsoka has been shown to enjoy is mechanical/electrical engineering, so it was either they bond over fighting or a particularly interesting circuit in Ghes's helmet. I think everyone other than my boring uncle can agree that this was the better option.

Other than that there's only the "fight smarter, not harder" message you should have gotten from Ghes being able to keep up with Ahsoka despite his distinct lack of being a Jedi, and the greatest lesson the US Army taught me "cheat like a motherf-r" (yes, that is literally how my drill Sgt put it). Ghes wasn't lying when he said there's no "fair fights" in war, you pull every dirty, cheap, and/or dishonest trick you can to win. Now that's something Mando'ade understand that most Jedi never will.

That's it for this week. As always, favorite/follow if you enjoyed and leave a review if you have anything to say.

Oh, and next week we get to talk about one of my favorite TCW stories. I can't wait…


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

Five. She was sure of that, and it meant it was time to make her move.

She lashed out, grabbing the exposed arm by the triceps and wrapped her own arm around the offending limb. Placing her foot behind her opponent, she twisted her body, using the trapped arm to bring the man over her leg and backward onto the mat. He went down hard, stunning him long enough that she could bring her leg over him and drop down to…

To feel a blunt point jabbing her in the stomach.

Ahsoka let out a groan of frustration.

"Where'd _that_ come from?" She asked as she rolled off Ghes. She was sure she'd disarmed him five times, the same as the number of training knives she'd seen on him when they'd started.

"Are you sure you counted right?" Ghes said, tossing the over-sized plastoid blade aside and propping himself up on his elbows.

Ahsoka was sure she had. One knife had started in his hand, and she'd disposed of it quite quickly. The two that had been on his belt had given her more trouble, but they too had eventually been thrown aside as well. The final two she'd accounted for had been tucked into the outer side of Ghes's boots, and she distinctly remembered having hands on both before she'd discarded them. She looked around the ring, counting discarded blades just to be sure. There were six, the five she'd accounted for and the one which had "killed" her.

Then she looked at Ghes, who'd moved from leaning back on his elbows into a seated position. Unlike during most of their training sessions, he wasn't wearing armor. Instead, he wore the grey fleet fatigues she'd often seen him wear off duty, except that he'd ditched the jacket by the side of the ring and wore only an undershirt. Ahsoka counted the sheaths on his belt, still just two, but she did notice one difference from when they'd started. The back of Ghes's shirt had been pulled out of his pants, and she hadn't done it, so…

Her eyes narrowed as she put together what had happened.

Ghes, following her gaze, looked down at the untucked shirt tail and grinned.

"You figure it out then?" He said. Still grinning, he reached behind himself, up under his shirt, and drew another of the blue blades.

" _Seven_." She counted aloud, more than a little annoyed.

"Never assume you've completely disarmed an enemy." Ghes said, standing up. "There's _always_ another place they could be hiding a weapon."

"So, _everyone's_ going to have two knives hidden under their shirt?" She asked sarcastically.

In response, Ghes pulled out the front of his shirt and lifted it to reveal a black strap across his stomach. He then turned to the side, showing her the two sheaths attached to the back of the strap.

"Itches like hell." He said, surprisingly keeping a straight face. "But if I'm not in armor…"

Ahsoka tried, and failed, to stifle a laugh. She was getting to know Ghes quite well, but once in a while she still managed to find a new… quirk

"What's so funny?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You." She said through her laughter. "Why do you even have that?"

"To carry more knives." He replied, acting as if the answer was obvious.

"Who needs to carry seven knives?"

"Someone who wants to teach an overconfident Jedi a lesson." He said smugly, returning the seventh knife to its place.

"Oh really?"

Ahsoka grabbed one of the discarded knives with the Force and quickly flicked it toward the side of Ghes's head. He caught it, of course, but he did so by wrapping his had around the blade. If that had been a real vibro-knife, he wouldn't have any fingers left, and, from his scowl, she could tell Ghes was distinctly aware of that.

"How's that for overconfident?" She taunted.

Ghes sighed.

"I think you're missing the point..." He said.

"That you can carry a lot of knives?"

"No..." Ghes started, then hesitated. "Well, yes, I guess that is sort of the point."

Ahsoka smiled smugly as she stood.

"It's still important though." Ghes continued. "If I can do it…"

"…than anyone else with at least two brain cells can." Ahsoka finished for him. "So I should always assume there's another weapon."

"That's all I ask." Ghes said, taking the knife she'd thrown at him and slipping it into a sheath at his belt.

"You know," Ahsoka said, crouching to pick up another of the discarded training blades. "I think you just don't like losing."

"Sure…" Ghes said sarcastically, turning away from her and bending to retrieve a third knife.

As he stood, Ahsoka noticed, not for the first time, the impressive figure Ghes cut, even without his armor. Broad-shouldered, his muscular neck and back were _very_ obvious from this angle, especially when he lifted his shirt to replace a knife…

Ahsoka caught herself before Ghes could turn around, forcing herself to look away so he wouldn't notice her staring. It wasn't the first time this had happened, and it had happened with other guys before she'd met Ghes, but she caught her gaze lingering on him far more often than she'd like. Ahsoka silently chastised herself for her lack of discipline in this regard, and dreaded the embarrassment she'd experience if Ghes ever caught her.

"Ahsoka?"

Ghes's voice startled Ahsoka, as her efforts to avoid looking at him had caused her to lose track of the man. She turned back to find him standing a half meter away with his hand held out to her, an expectant look on his face. It took Ahsoka longer than she'd like to admit to realize he was waiting for her to hand him the knife she'd retrieved.

"Are you all right?" Ghes asked after she'd finally handed him the blade.

"Yes." She said quickly, feeling her face flush. "I'm just… tired."

It wasn't a good excuse, probably more of a deflection, in fact. Ghes seemed acutely aware of this, but he chose not to press the issue.

"All right then." He said, moving to retrieve his discarded jacket. "I guess we're done for today."

Ahsoka's duty shift still wasn't for another few hours when their training session had ended, and she was grateful for this. She found herself fixating, perhaps unnecessarily, on the possibility that Ghes had guessed the real reason for her odd behavior. No, returning to her room to meditate was definitely the best thing for her right now.

As time went on, Ahsoka found meditation had grown both easier and more effective. She chalked this up to practice and, she'd like to believe, her maturing significantly over the past couple of years. Not for the first time, she wondered how non-Jedi went through life without this way of coping with the difficulties of life. So many of the people around her seemed so keyed up all of the time, and, though she understood why they were like this, she felt bad for the effect it must have on them.

Even Ghes, who appeared so outwardly together, she suspected of suffering in this way. Though, as she could not read him the way she could most people, this suspicion was more conjecture than anything…

And there she went again. Ahsoka was actively trying to avoid thinking about Ghes, but he snuck his way into her thoughts anyway. It annoyed Ahsoka to no end that all of her mental discipline seemed unable to prevent these slip-ups, and she tried to ignore the more _uncomfortable_ implications of her failings.

Thankfully, her commlink beeping prevented her from going any further down this dangerous line of thought. She grabbed it off the ground next to her and clicked it on.

"Commander Tano." She said into the device.

"Commander," A clone's voice responded. "You have an oncoming transmission. ID code; CC-7567."

 _Rex_ , Ahsoka thought. She hadn't spoken directly to her friend since she'd left the main element of the 501st a few weeks ago, something she hadn't realized how much she regretted until now.

"Can you put it through to my cabin?" She asked, not wanting to venture all the way to the com center at the rear of the bridge unless she absolutely had to.

"Of course, ma'am." The com officer responded. "Patching it through now."

Ahsoka had to move to the room's desk to answer what was apparently a holo-com call, as a one-fourth scale version of Rex's upper body appeared floating over the desk's surface.

"Ahsoka," The captain said, his hologram smiling up at her.

"Hey Rex," She said, returning his smile. "How was your leave?"

"Dull." Rex said with a shrug. "Not much to do but refit and work in replacements."

"Glad to see you're not having too much fun without me."

"Wouldn't dream of it." He said, laughing. "How are you getting along with recon?"

"It's… interesting." Ahsoka said. There really wasn't any other way to describe her time with the ARFs. "I'm learning some useful things."

"I'm sure you are." Rex said, his tone implying he knew exactly what she'd been doing. "Col. Marczak putting you through your paces then?"

"Yeah, we've been sparring." She said. "How'd you know."

"He's Mandalorian." He said matter-of-factly.

From what Ahsoka knew about traditional Mandalorians, it was reasonable for Rex to assume that, as a Mando, Ghes would enjoy fighting. Of course, that knowledge was based on a the very generalized view of the warrior culture that existed in the public mind, and Rex's own picture of them would be heavily shaped by his training sergeants.

"Did you know he's a mercenary?" She asked.

Rex shrugged.

"Not my place to ask about something like that." He said, and she had to agree. In the end it didn't really matter much _how_ Ghes had come to be in the GAR, as long as he was good at his job. "Do you like him?"

For a moment, Ahsoka felt uncomfortably flush as she was reminded of her earlier _discomfort_.

"He's _unique_." She said, not trusting herself to say more. It was good a way as any to describe Ghes anyway, or, at least, it was better than _eccentric_.

Rex nodded, apparently ignorant of Ahsoka's discomfort. But did she want him to be? Rex was one of her oldest and closest friends, and part of her wanted to tell him about the confusing feelings she'd been struggling with. She'd tried to deal with it herself; mostly by ignoring them, but that clearly wasn't working. What she needed right now was someone to talk through her what she was thinking with.

"Rex, can I ask you something." Ahsoka asked cautiously.

"Sure." Rex said, suddenly looking concerned. "What's on your mind?"

"Do you ever think that, maybe, the way you were taught to do things isn't the only way to do them?"

It was a very roundabout way to ask that question, but it was as direct as she was willing to be.

"What?" Rex responded, clearly confused.

"Like how you're a soldier," Ahsoka began, trying to be clearer without giving away her true motive. "and you were taught a certain way to be a soldier; how to fight, what you should and shouldn't do. Do you ever question any of it?"

For a moment, Rex just looked at her, still confused, as he worked over the revised question in his mind. It appeared, at least to Ahsoka, that he'd never really thought much about it. Why should he? Like many Jedi, clones took comfort in the rules that governed and regulated their lives, it was all they'd ever known after all. Unlike Jedi, however, Rex was far less likely to encounter a situation that would seriously challenge what he'd been taught.

"When I was retrained," Rex said, starting slowly, as if he was still working out what he wanted to say. "most of the SOP we'd been using since the beginning where thrown out to encourage us to be more _creative_."

"How'd you deal with that?" She asked. "Wasn't it hard?"

"It was, at first." He admitted. "But, once I started thinking for myself instead of just reacting how I'd been trained to, I realized that it wasn't about the way I'd been trained being wrong. There was just another way to do it, and that way was better for the job I had to do."

"Ok…" Ahsoka said, though, privately, she was a little confused.

"Let me put it a different way." Rex continued, perhaps picking up on her confusion. "do you remember Master Altis?"

"Yes."

Master Djinn Altis was what many Jedi might call a "heretic". He and his sect rejected orthodox Jedi teaching about attachment, among other things, encouraging close relationships and even marriage amongst members. They were outcasts from the rest of the Jedi Order, living as nomads and doing humanitarian work on planets affected by the war. Ahsoka had met Altis and two of his followers once, during the first year of the war immediately after the mission to rescue Rotta the Hutt. Her, Rex, and five other troopers from the 501st had been training aboard the _Acclamator_ -class cruiser _Leveler_ when the outcast Jedi had joined with them to rescue a Rep Intel agent out of the middle of a CIS-backed planetary revolution. Looking back, it was hard for Ahsoka to understand the naïve fanaticism that had led her to be so immediately suspicious and hostile toward Altis's people, but she had been. Some of what she'd said to them seemed almost laughable in hindsight.

"It's like that." Rex said. "A different approach. Not wrong, just different."

If Rex had said that to any other Jedi, he would have been subjected to a lengthy rant about how there was only one _right_ way to be a Jedi, and that any deviation from that path would lead inevitably toward the dark side. Ahsoka wasn't like that, at least not anymore. She'd seen and done too much during the past two years of war to believe anything could be so clear cut.

"Thanks, Rex." Ahsoka said, beginning to grasp his point. "That actually helps a lot."

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on with you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing." She quickly insisted. "It's just something I've been thinking about."

It was obvious Rex didn't believe her, she could see it in his eyes, but, thankfully, he choose not to press her.

"All right then, little'un." He said, smiling gently. "I'll let you get back to it then"

"I'm not doing anything right now," She protested. "I can still…"

"No," Rex interrupted, his hologram holding up a translucent hand. "I have to go. There's something big coming, and General Skywalker wants us to be ready for it."

"Okay then," Ahsoka said, a little upset at the abrupt end this call was coming to. "talk to you later."

Rex smiled at her once more before his image faded out and Ahsoka was left staring at the durasteel desktop.

She sat there for a while after that, thinking more about what Rex had said. Specifically, she thought more about Master Altis. Ahsoka had spared little thought on the elderly Jedi and his followers since she'd encountered them almost two years prior. She'd had little reason to, having decided near the end of that adventure that their path, while not inherently wrong or dark as she'd first thought, wasn't for her.

But was that still true? When she'd made that decision, Ahsoka had been out of the Temple for less than a month, and a lot had changed since then. Being Master Skywalker's Padawan had taught her a… _healthy skepticism_ of rules, especially those set by the Jedi Council. In fact, by this point, defying the Council's orders was practically a hobby for her and Anakin.

Ahsoka groaned aloud in frustration. She didn't even know why she was thinking so hard about this. Any feelings beyond friendship which she _may or may not_ be developing for Ghes, and the question of whether or not she should act on them, were ultimately pointless. The fact of the matter was that she could not and would not act on any such theoretical feelings unless she was certain that Ghes reciprocated. It wasn't just a matter of pride, it was also a matter of fear, not of rejection, but of ruining a new friendship, not to mention their professional relationship. Therefore, because of Ghes's frustratingly blank presence in the Force that ensured she could never know how he felt without him telling her directly, this line of thought was purely academic.

Something Ahsoka did know was that this mental blackout was voluntary, Ghes had admitted as much. While he had apparently been doing it for long enough that it had become his default state, there was no reason for her to think that he would not be able to stop if he wanted to. If she really wanted to read him, she would just have to convince him to drop his guard and "open up" to her.

And now that little hypothetical nagging at her was going to stop her from focusing on anything else, especially meditation.

Retrieving her datapad, Ahsoka checked to see if Ghes was on duty, and he was, on the bridge. She didn't want to confront him about her little idea right now, in fact, she was hoping to avoid him. If Ghes was on duty, that meant she could go work out without him distracting her again.

Stowing the datapad back in her desk, she rose from her chair. If she couldn't focus on meditating, she'd just have to go with a more… _crude_ method of relaxation.

Ahsoka needed to hit something.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Another two-review week, so I'll just get right into things;

Hybrid301, I continue to thank you for your comments. Hope you enjoyed this week's chapter!

8th (reviewing Ch. Four), thank you so much! When I wrote that originally, I thought that it was based on something I'd read, but I checked the wiki and couldn't find anything. It didn't click until you reminded me about that part of the _Republic Commando_ novels (which I absolutely love but haven't re-read in a while). As much as I've always been hesitant to change any scene that's been depicted on screen (something I'm trying to get over while writing Pt II), I do like experimenting when it comes to crafting my own scenes and using lore to justify some of my more… complicated ideas. I'm not sure how I feel about the new season of _TCW_. On the one hand, we've likely seen half of the "new" episodes between the two unfinished arcs that have been released over the past few years, and they were pretty good. On the other, I wasn't the biggest fan of the "Lost Missions" episodes that came out on Netflix (for my purposes, I'm likely to reference most of the arcs in that "season" and will out right ignore the whole bio-chip conspiracy because I think it's dumb), so I'm not especially confident that the remaining six episodes we haven't seen will be any good. And, on a more selfish note, the Siege of Mandalore was something I want to do towards the end of Part II, and I doubt my version of events will resemble Filoni's very much. I _hated_ basically everything Filoni did with Mandalore over the course of _TCW_ (and how it made Karen Traviss quite writing Star Wars novels), so I'm not going to hold my breath over this.

Transitioning into this week's chapter, this is the first part of the story entirely original to the rewrite, and once again something I'm rather proud of (of course, if I wasn't I probably wouldn't be posting it).

The biggest hurdle I encountered writing this should be rather obvious. For anyone not aware, I am a man (and a straight man at that), so the prospect of representing, even partially, the thoughts of a female character regarding her attraction to a member of the opposite sex was a little intimidating. After all, isn't it a well-known cliché that no man can ever understand how women think? Not currently having a girlfriend or any close female friends (my high school was unisex and there aren't many women even in combat arms jobs that have been open to them for years), I had no one to run any of this by to verify its "authenticity". I was afraid that whatever I ended up writing would come across as… _wrong_ in some intangible way that I'd never be able to understand.

It took a frankly embarrassing amount of time for me to realize that the answer my "problem" was right in front of my face the whole time; don't worry about it. A mistake I've heard is common among writers (of both genders) is to worry about a character's gender before worrying about their character, and I'd like to think that's not a mistake I've ever really made. Looking back at my work, I've written far more from the POV of female characters than male ones, something I never even thought that much about until one of my professors praised a short story I wrote (unrelated to any of this, obviously) for having a female main character, something I think is a weird point of praise, but whatever. So yeah, just an anecdote I thought was an interesting window into my creative process.

So now I'll finally get to what made me excited to talk about this chapter, the not so subtle reference to the second _TCW_ tie-in novel, _No Prisoners_ (by Karen Traviss). That relatively short novel is, without a doubt, my favorite _TCW_ story. Why, you may ask? Because, in it, Traviss did what Filoni either couldn't or wouldn't most of the time; tie this new series and it's characters into the larger Star Wars universe (what would become the Legends EU). Starring in this story alongside Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex, are two Post-ROTJ characters who have established connections to the Clone Wars (event) that, since they were both created before _Attack of the Clones_ was released, hadn't really been explored; Captain Gilad Pellaeon (Thrawn's right hand man and future leader of the Imperial Remnant) and Callista Masana (also known as Callista Ming, one of Luke's weirder major love interests with an ultimately tragic faith). Add on to that some really good military sci-fi writing and critical analysis of Jedi philosophy and you get one hell of a story that is, in my humble opinion, sorely underappreciated.

All of the _TCW_ tie-in novels are pretty great really, even the novelization of the movie (also by Karen Traviss). I think the weakest one was _Wild Space_ (Karen Miller), which you could jokingly refer to as _Obi Wan and Bail's Excellent Adventure_ , but even that filled the role of showing how Obi Wan became friends with Bail Organa despite his stated hatred of politicians.

That being said, how come my original story didn't reference it at all, instead just having Ahsoka just kind of decide to violate the Jedi Code out of nowhere? Well, that's simple, I didn't read any of theses books until last November, about three months after I wrote _Marczak_.

This has gotten _way_ too long already, so I'm just going to end this here. As always, follow and/or favorite if you enjoyed, and feel free to leave a review. I really do enjoy reading reviews and responding to them in these author's notes sections.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

At various points in her life, Ahsoka had thought she'd found the "worst" planet in the Galaxy. Felucia had occupied that place of honor for a long time, and, though that time had long past, she still considered the jungle world to be at least in the top five of undesirable vacation spots.

Umbara, however, trumped them all.

She decided this only a few minutes after they'd inserted onto the world, when a very large and very toothy vine plant had become suddenly determined to eat Niner and Striker, that is, until Ghes had fed it a thermite grenade instead. This turned out to be only the first in a wide variety of hostile flora and fauna which inhabited the dark world. And Umbara was most certainly _dark_ , in a very literal sense. Ahsoka had thought the description of a shadow world locked in eternal night that had been presented in the mission brief was an exaggeration born of rumors and bad intelligence, but, after nearly a standard week without any sign of daylight, she'd lost that skepticism.

What Ahsoka wanted to know was why Umbara was important enough to be worth the effort of an invasion, because she had no idea what value the Chancellor and the Council saw in the hellish rock, and neither did anyone else. It seemed to her this was a classic case of "the Separatists are there, so the Republic has to be there too!".

Or, more accurately, the Republic would be here, eventually. For now, though, GAR presence on the planet was limited to recon teams spread out over the entire northern hemisphere around proposed landing sites for the real invasion. These recon teams represented Ghes's entire battalion, much to his chagrin. Ahsoka got the impression that Ghes didn't like having all of his men participating in the same operation at once, not least of all because it placed _Retaliation_ at the disposal of the assault fleet, and, despite all its automation, the ship's skeleton crew was not prepared for a fleet engagement.

Despite this reluctance, and the complaining that had come with it, Ghes was still a professional, and he'd do his job.

"I don't like the look of these militia units, colonel." Vor's voice crackled faintly over the commlink. "I've never seen kit like this before."

"All we can do is pass it up the chain." Ghes responded, clearly as unnerved by what they'd been seeing as Vor was. "Not that it ever gets where it'd do any good."

Ahsoka nodded idlily, though she really wasn't paying much attention. Fixed observation was _incredibly_ boring, and, though Ghes and his men seemed fine with the work, she was having trouble dealing with the long periods of inactivity. She shifted uncomfortably on her stomach, careful not to disturb any of the foliage or camouflage netting that surrounded her and Ghes, and looked over at her companion. He lay only about forty centimeters away from her within the cramped confines of the observation post, propped up on his elbows and looking through a pair of macro binoculars. Even in the darkness, she could see that his armor had become coated with mud, something which didn't bode well for her own appearance.

"Take a holo," Ghes said, still not looking away from whatever was downrange. "It'll last longer."

Ahsoka scowled at the lame joke, though she wondered how he'd even known she'd been looking at him.

"How can you stand just sitting here?" She said, rolling onto her side so she was facing him.

"Discipline." He said. "Discipline and caffeine pills."

"Really?" She said, disbelievingly.

"Oh yeah," He said, finally dropping the binocs for the first time in hours and turning toward her. "You want some?"

"Colonel?" She asked in mock surprise. "Are you offering me _drugs_?"

"I suppose I am." Ghes answered, laughing. "I have combat stims to, if you want something stronger."

"No!" She laughed back. "I'm not tired, I'm just bored."

"Can't you meditate," He asked, turning back to his work. "or whatever it is you Jedi do?"

She could, but she really didn't want to. A very insistent part of Ahsoka was telling her that she should't waste any time she had alone with Ghes. But she'd had a lot of time alone with him on this mission, and she'd yet to implement the "plan" she'd thought of days prior. She wasn't sure what was holding her back, it wasn't like anything she'd thought to say would tip her hand. Yet she'd been unable to overcome her nerves to ask completely innocent questions.

That had to change.

"You ever tried meditating. Ghes?" Ahsoka asked.

There, she thought, that should get the ball rolling in the right direction. Moreover, it wasn't a completely unfounded question. After all, Ghes had an awareness of the Force, even if he didn't consciously use it most of the time.

"Not my style." Ghes said dismissively.

"Come on," She said, sounding more pleading than she would have liked. "it'd probably help you be more relaxed."

"I am relaxed."

Ahsoka doubted that, though she admitted that he hid any anxiety he had well.

"Besides," Ghes continued. "if I need to relax, I can go to the range, or the gym."

"You don't have to _stop_ doing any of that." She said. "I'm just saying meditation is something else you could try."

Ghes once again put down his macro binoculars and turned toward Ahsoka, though this time he paused in between to remove his helmet. She assumed this was mostly for her benefit, as her natural night vision was much better than a human's, so Ghes would barely be able to see her without the benefit of his helmet's optics.

"This is about my mind block thing, isn't it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "It makes you uncomfortable?"

Ahsoka quietly panicked as he said that, before she realized that he'd missed the mark by just enough that she could roll with it.

"How'd you know?" She lied, thankful that Ghes wasn't sensitive enough to pick up on her emotions.

"Because I make every Jedi uncomfortable," He answered. "most just don't understand why."

That seemed odd to Ahsoka. She'd never been uncomfortable around Ghes, at least not for that reason. But she could understand how other Jedi might be put off balance by a non-Jedi they couldn't read.

"It's sort of like the mental equivalent of a helmet," She said, entertained by the comparison. "especially when you're already wearing an actual one."

"I guess it is." Ghes said, laughing softly.

"But do you have to be like that all the time?"

There, she'd said it. Well she hadn't said _it_ , but she'd moved the conversation in a direction she couldn't easily back away from.

Ghes looked puzzled by what Ahsoka had said, as if he'd never given that question any real thought. It was likely he hadn't, especially if it was the default state she'd assumed it to be.

"I guess not, if I didn't want to." He said with a shrug. "But I've been doing it so long that I don't really have to think about it."

She'd been right then, he didn't think about it at all, it was just how he was now.

"You can turn it off though, right?"

"I think so." He said, running one hand over his scalp. "But, like I said, I've never really tried."

"You could try now." She suggested casually, trying not to seem like she was pushing him.

Ahsoka quickly realized she'd failed at that.

"Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Ghes said defensively, clearly becoming suspicious.

"Because…" Ahsoka began, mentally scrambling for something, anything, to deflect away from her real motivation. "It makes you seem like you don't trust anyone. You trust me, right?"

"You're here, aren't you?" He responded. "If I didn't trust you, you wouldn't be watching my back."

"Then you should be able to drop your guard around me." She countered. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Ghes considered what she'd said for a few moments, appearing deep in thought. Ahsoka felt her heart began to race as she waited for him to answer. Eventually, after what felt like hours yet was probably less than a minute, Ghes's expression changed from of contemplation to one of frustration and confusion.

"What's wrong?" Ahsoka asked, concerned.

"I can't do it." Ghes admitted, looking and sounding defeated.

"What?" She asked.

What was he talking about? Did he mean…

"I've just been doing this for so long." He said. "I don't know how to turn it off."

So that _was_ what he meant. Ahsoka, admittedly, had very little firsthand experience with these matters, but she had been taught about it as a youngling in the temple. If she remembered correctly, untrained Force-users, and even lower level Force-sensitives like Ghes, often had little to no control over their abilities. With beings stronger in the Force, this lack of control resulted in them developing a noticeable talent. Ahsoka, for example, had superior empathic abilities as a child, and still did. Weaker beings like Ghes, however, more often than not just had better than average reflexes. But Ghes was different because he, under extreme stress, had developed a crude yet powerful ability to shield his mind from Force-users. It was reasonable to assume, then, that, due to his lack of any formal training and the traumatic circumstances of its origin, Ghes would have no real control over his ability. And it was also possible that…

"Maybe I could help you." Ahsoka blurted out before she'd really had the chance to work out _how_ she was going to help him.

"Really?" Ghes said, skeptical, but still interested. "How?"

"It would involve meditation…" She said, that being the only part she'd worked out so far.

Ghes sighed.

"I'm not really sure how I feel about this whole 'communion with the Force' thing." He said. "That might be a little _too_ open for me."

"Don't think about it like that." She said, reaching out and placing a hand on his forearm. "You're not 'communing with the Force', just me."

Ghes glanced down at her hand. He looked reluctant, and a little uncomfortable, but he didn't pull away or ask her to move her hand, so that was a good sign.

"All right." He said finally. "I'll try it."

Even though she knew he couldn't see it, Ahsoka smiled.

Though Ghes had agreed to try… whatever Ahsoka's plan was, he still insisted on waiting until Vor and Niner switched out with them in the OP. This was probably the right call for multiple reasons, not the least of which being that it gave Ahsoka enough time to actually think through the rest of the plan beyond "meditation". She was eventually able to put together a decent idea of what she was going to do, even if she still wasn't sure of some of the smaller details. This all took a few more hours, though time did not seem to drag nearly as much now that she had something to focus her mind on.

When Vor and Niner finally showed up to relieve them, Ahsoka's heart began to beat a little faster in anticipation. It took her and Ghes another few minutes to travel the hundred meters through the brush from their OP back to their camouflaged camp. The small clearing contained only two bedrolls, more camouflage netting, and an encrypted, tight beam transmitter attached to a dish antenna.

"Okay." Ghes said once he'd placed his helmet and rifle down on a bedroll. "How do you want to this?"

Ahsoka thought for a moment as she glanced around the camp. There was really only one place to go.

"Just sit down here." She said, gesturing to the pair of bedrolls.

Ghes nodded and lowered himself to the ground as quietly as he could while wearing full armor. As Ahsoka followed suit, he reached for a pack and pulled out a lantern. Placing the device on the ground between them, he activated it, fiddling with the output dial until it put out what she suspected was just enough light for him to see her face.

"All right." Ahsoka began once they'd both settled facing each other. "Close your eyes."

Ghes did as he was told without another word.

"Breathe deeply," She said, continuing to direct him. "clear your mind of all distractions."

This was the part that gave beings just starting out, including Ahsoka years ago, the most trouble. Ghes had the advantage of already having a soldier's discipline, so hopefully that would help.

"Focus on your sense of me." She continued, closing her own eyes and extending her awareness outwards.

Ghes's Force presence was familiar enough to her by now, distinct for its lack of feature. The helmet metaphor she'd used earlier in the night wasn't completely accurate, a helmet at least had an identifiable visor to focus your attention on. In contrast, Ghes's presence was uniform across its entirety, like a wall, another comparison she'd already drawn, if only in her own mind. Ahsoka focused her awareness in on this presence, "surrounding" it, as it were. In return, she could feel Ghes focusing on her as well, though, as he wasn't able to "project" himself in the same way a Jedi could, the sensation was very weak.

"Now open your mind to me." Ahsoka said, as much in her mind as aloud.

She searched along the "surface" of Ghes's presence, looking for a flaw she could exploit to slip past the mental defenses. Ahsoka could feel Ghes strain against these defenses himself from the "other side" as he made a concerted effort to force his way through. He succeeded in creating a small opening, a "crack", and she exploited it, pouring her own will and mind through the breach. Once she was through she found herself overwhelmed by a flood of images that

 _She saw her younger self from across a busy hanger, dismissed as another kid caught up in a war she didn't understand…_

 _There were walls of text, mission reports, and she read them with an idle sense of interest in someone she'd never really met…_

 _Again, Ahsoka saw herself, this time older and caked in dust, but now she wasn't dismissed…_

 _She saw herself fight on Felucia. Now there was respect, and a protective instinct she somehow knew was unnecessary…_

 _And she saw herself a hundred more times, stolen glances from every angle. Affection and freienship started to change into something… more._

 _There were rules, rules that said she shouldn't feel this way, and it scared her. She was confused…_

No… _Ghes_ was confused. It was all him, his memories from his perspective. Ahsoka had felt all of it as if it had happened to her, and now she understood. Ghes felt the same the same way about her as she felt about him, but he was too much the good soldier to admit it.

Well, she'd just have to fix that.

Ahsoka launched herself at Ghes, flattening him onto his back, and kissed him. He reciprocated at first, still dazed from the meditation, she suspected, but eventually he stooped her.

"Wait, Ahsoka!" Ghes said, grabbing her shoulders and lifting her off his chest. "What're you doing?"

"I'm kissing you, stupid!" She said, slightly aggravated by his reluctance.

"I can see that." He said. "And there are so many…"

Ahsoka clamped a hand over his mouth, silencing the protest, and stared into his eyes.

"I was in your head, Ghes." She said, maintaining her grip on his jaw. "I know how you feel about me. This is me telling you I feel the same way. Don't tell me it's against regulations, don't tell me it's against the Jedi Code. I've thought it through and I _want_ this. Now, are you going to keep ruining the moment, or are you going to shut up and enjoy this?"

She saw in Ghes's eyes that she'd shut down every argument he could have made, and those nervous reservations had been replaced with acceptance… and _excitement_.

"I knew you were going to be trouble." He said a few minutes later when they'd both come up for air.

"And I told you to shut up!"

Ahsoka woke slowly into the twilight that was the closest Umbara had to a daytime. She didn't quite remember falling asleep, in fact she didn't remember much at all until she realized what her head was resting on. Or, rather, _who_ she was resting on.

Her first groggy thoughts were slightly panicked as she checked to make sure both her and Ghes were still fully clothed, which, thankfully, they were. Ahsoka may have already crossed a few lines with Ghes, but _that_ was one step she wasn't quite ready for.

"Ghes." She whispered, tapping on his breastplate. "Wake up."

"I'm awake!" Ghes said, jerking his head off the ground.

He seemed suddenly alert, eyes darting back and forth across their surroundings before his gaze finally settled on her. She could practically hear the gears turning in his head as his mind cleared and he too remembered what had happened.

"Good morning." Ahsoka said, smiling.

"Hey." He responded, still clearly trying to shake off the effects of their nap.

"So…" She started, not sure what she was supposed to say. "That… happened."

"Yea." Ghes agreed, laughing nervously.

"What happened?"

They both jumped at the sudden intrusion of an unexpected voice. Ahsoka tried to roll to face the unknown speaker, but found herself pinned in place by Ghes's arm as he drew his sidearm and pointed it across both their bodies. Her first hint at their guest's identity came a moment later, when Ghes lowered his sidearm and sighed, and she knew who it was immediately after when her senses fully caught up with her.

"Niner?!" Ahsoka yelled as she sat up, angered and surprised by the trooper's presence. "How long have you been there?!"

"A few minutes." The clone said sheepishly. "Vor sent me to find you two when you didn't show up for shift change and the colonel didn't answer his comm."

Ahsoka looked back at Ghes, who himself was staring blankly at a blinking red light on his gauntlet.

"Oops." He said, embarrassed. "Listen, Niner... how about we don't tell the others about this?"

"I think they already know, colonel." Niner said, pointing at Ghes's discarded helmet.

"Don't tell me…" Ahsoka groaned, dreading the explanation she knew was coming.

"Vor checked your cam footage when he couldn't reach you." Niner explained. "He didn't tell me what he saw, but…"

"Of course." Ghes sighed, gripping the bridge of his nose. "Tell the lieutenant that the commander and I will be along shortly."

"Will do, boss." Niner said, snapping a quick salute before walking back into the brush. As he moved out of sight, Ahsoka thought she heard him mumble something about Rip owing him thirty creds.

"So much for keeping this, whatever _this_ is, on the down low." Ghes said once the trooper was out of earshot.

Ahsoka reached over and grabbed Ghes's helmet from where it had sat facing them.

"I didn't think these things recorded." She said, looking into the helmet's T-visor. "At least not all the time."

"They don't." Ghes said, still squeezing the bridge of his nose again as he realized his mistake. "Mine's modded to. I must have forgot to turn it off when we were…"

"Making out?" Ahsoka asked, amused by his coyness.

"I was going to say 'meditating'." He said. "But that too."

The two shifted around nervously as they took time to process what had just happened. Ahsoka remembered sitting down to help Ghes with his "problem", she remembered touching his mind, and she remembered kissing him over his half-hearted protests. But everything after that was a blur of _very_ strong emotions that had apparently ended with them falling asleep in each other's arms. And now, at the very least, Vor and Niner knew that there was something going on between her and Ghes. The worst part of all this, though, was that none of them, not even Ahsoka and Ghes, knew what that "something" was.

"So…" She began, breaking the silence. "what are we doing here."

It was, on the surface, a simple question. But it was also one that Ahsoka, despite her complete lack of experience, knew needed to be answered sooner rather than later.

"Surveillance." Ghes said.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

"You know that's not what I meant." She said humorlessly.

"I know." He said, running his hand over his scalp. "It's just… I've never really done anything like this before."

"Really?" Ahsoka asked, disbelievingly. "Never?"

Ghes shrugged.

"I guess I never met the right girl." He said, giving her a look that tied her stomach in knots.

Ahsoka smiled, simultaneously flattered and embarrassed.

"Then we'll have to figure things out together." She said. "Do what feels right."

Ghes smiled, a wicked glint in his eye.

"I'll tell you something that feels right…" He said, voice trailing off as he pulled Ahsoka's lips to his.

And something told her Vor was going to have to wait for them a little longer.

* * *

Before I get into the author's notes for this week, I have something else I want to put out there. Don't worry, it's not some plea for assistance or a declaration of some kind, it's just a little bit of supplementary material. This is something that you describe as sort of a "deleted scene", an idea for a scene that I thought of and really wanted to do, but couldn't find a place to fit into the story where it wouldn't have been out of place or flow breaking. Depending on how you all react to this one (this is one of those times when leaving an opinion could have an effect on future content from me), this might become a semi-regular thing I do, probably more so in Parts III-IV where the broader time scale means that more events are occurring "off-screen". I'll start off putting these in between the chapter and the author's notes, but once the story is complete I'll likely move them to there own "appendix" chapter.

This scene here is something that would have occurred sometime between when our heroes returned from Felucia and when they went to Umbara before the start of the chapter you just read, and is essentially a parallel to Ch. Six, but from Ghes's perspective. It's only about three pages as is, and there really wasn't much I could think of to add to it to that would have made it long enough to be a chapter. Besides, I didn't want to start switching up the POV character so soon. Next chapter will be the first time that something is shown from anyone else's perspective, and that will be for less than a page. I'm going to save the first time we see a scene from Ghes's perspective in-story for a far more significant event that will happen around the middle of Part II.

 ** _What Ghes Knew_**

Ghes was in no hurry as he made his way down the line of _Nu_ -class shuttles that made up _Retaliation_ 's modest air wing, taking time to give each vessel a visual once-over for any obvious damage or abnormalities as he passed. He knew he wouldn't find anything unexpected, not if his flight crews were doing their jobs, but lending his personal attention to such things had always given him peace of mind, no matter how unnecessary it usually was. Besides, it was the last shuttle in line that he'd come to see, the one he'd had to pull out of service after it had returned from a reconnaissance mission on Mimban with only one operational engine.

The work had already begun by the time he came into view of the afflicted vessel, and Ghes immediately recognized a grim looking clone in fleet coveralls knelt atop the hull beside a propped open access panel he assumed led into the engine compartment. Tech Sergeant Greer was one of the few members of the ship's company Ghes expected to be in the mostly droid run hanger on a daily basis, since he was their only rated flight mechanic.

Or, at least, he had been.

"Yeah, it looks like this coupling is shot to." Ahsoka Tano's voice echoed from somewhere inside the vessel. "How many does that make? Four?"

"Yes, ma'am." Greer said, reaching down through the access hatch and retrieving the hunk of metal Ghes assumed was a coupling. "And still only the two replacements."

"Well then," Ahsoka said as the blue and white stripes of her montrals appeared out of the hatch. "we'll just have to make the other two ourselves then, won't we?"

Ghes smiled. The young Togruta Jedi had been quick to offer her services when he'd told her about the grounded shuttle, and he hadn't hesitated to accept it. Greer had been overworked for a long time, and it wasn't like there was any rule against an officer getting her hands dirty.

"Commander!" Ghes called out from where he'd stopped about ten meters from the base of the shuttle. "How's everything going up there?"

"Colonel!" She called back, turning towards him beaming with a smile Ghes could only think to describe as radiant, even with her eyes obscured behind a pair of goggles. She rose up further out of the compartment, leaning forward on folded arms bare but for a pair of sturdy mechanics gloves as she looked down at him. "Not too great, half of the electronics in here are shot and we're short on replacement parts."

"Wouldn't be the army if we weren't short on something." Ghes joked, though that seemed to be the case all too often. "Mind if I come up and take a look?"

"Be my guest." Ahsoka replied, waving him up before turning back towards Greer. "Sergeant, why don't you head down to the machine shop and start working on those part's? I can keep things going here by myself for a little while."

"Yes, ma'am." Greer said, nodding curtly as he stood and made his way towards the ladder that had been clamped to the hull behind the cockpit section.

He slid down, nodding to Ghes in acknowledgement as he passed him at the base before heading off. Greer was quiet for a clone, always had been, and Ghes didn't really care much about being saluted every five minutes.

Ahsoka had pulled herself up onto the outer hull by the time Ghes reached the top of the ladder, sitting on the edge of the open access panel. As he approached and she turned to flash him that infectious smile again, he got a different view of the young woman than the one he'd gotten used to in the weeks since she'd arrived. Rather than the usual short, sleeveless dress she always seemed to wear, she'd donned a well-worn and heavily stained pair of the same gray fleet coveralls Greer and most of the other maintenance and engineering personnel wore, except with the top half of the garment tied around her waist, leaving her torso covered only by an equally stained, white tank top. Put together with the goggles that now sat on her forehead and the gloves she'd removed and placed in her lap, the outfit made her look more like more like a Coruscant mechanic than a Jedi, at least not any Jedi he'd every seen.

"So," He began, squatting down on his haunches next to her. "What's wrong with the old girl?"

"Like I said, a lot of the electronic components are fried." Ahsoka said with a heavy sigh as she gestured down at the partially disassembled drive below them. "Most of the power couplings and at least one fuel pump need to be replaced, and once that's done the whole thing is going to need to be realigned…"

"Uh huh…" Ghes said, nodding along and doing his best to follow what Ahsoka was saying as she continued to describe the myriad of problems the shuttle was experiencing.

When it came to starship mechanics and avionics, he wasn't very familiar with most of the jargon, or many of the technical aspects of how the _shabla_ things worked. He'd never owned a ship himself, and Greer had always handled _Retaliation_ 's air wing without much of a need for input or assistance from anyone else, so it had never seemed like all that necessary of a thing to learn. His eyes must have started glazing over, though, because it didn't take long for Ahsoka to notice that he wasn't _really_ comprehending what she was explaining.

"You don't understand a word of what I'm saying, do you?" She said with a bit of a laugh.

"Not at all." Ghes admitted, not feeling the need to try and hide just how limited his knowledge was in this area. "But I can fix a speeder engine if I have to."

"Well an ion drive is just a _bit_ more complicated than that." Ahsoka said.

"I'm sure." He agreed. "But as long as _you_ know how fix it, and, preferably, what caused the problem in the first place."

"That…" Ahsoka said, reaching over to a pile of discarded components and grabbing something wrapped in an oil-soaked rag before holding the parcel out for him to take. "Would be this little guy."

Ghes took the item from her and considered it for a moment before peeling back a corner of the rag. Inside was one of the ugliest creatures Ghes had ever seen in his life; a thirty-centimeter-long thing that looked like a rodent but was armored like an insect and had a multipart jaw. It looked like something even a strill would think twice about eating.

"Found it in nest tucked under the number one reaction chamber." Ahsoka explained. "I think it excretes some sort of acid, because that's the only reason I can think of for most of the corrosion in here."

"Okay then…" Ghes said, quickly wrapping the creature up and putting it aside before wiping his hands off on his jacket. "And you're sure he didn't bring any friends?"

"If he did, I'd know about it." She said, grabbing the re-wrapped hitchhiker and returning it to the trash pile. "Whatever these things are, they _smell_. Bad."

"Well, at least now we know it this won't happen again." Ghes said, still trying to get rid of the greasy feeling the creature had left on his hand. "Wouldn't want you to be down here every day."

"Speaking of which…" Ahsoka began, lowering her goggles back over her eyes and pulling on her gloves. "I should get back to work."

"Mind if I watch for a bit?" Ghes asked. Even if he didn't understand any of this, he was still more than a little curious.

"Go ahead." She said with a shrug, pushing herself off the ledge and dropping back down into the engine compartment. "Just try not to touch anything."

As he sat on the ledge above, watching her work, Ghes, not for the first time, considered the young Jedi who had so quickly become part of his life. She really was, by a fairly wide margin, one of the most interesting beings he'd met, not just in the army, but in all his twenty years of life.

Ahsoka wasn't like most other Jedi he'd met, at least not in any of the ways that made him despise so many of the arrogant, prideful zealots. She was down to earth, dedicated to her role as an officer, and, like her master, she hadn't dismissed him out of hand as a violent thug the way other Jedi had throughout his life, going back to when he'd still been working with his _buir_. It also didn't hurt that she was handy in a fight, or that she was willing to do work most officers thought was below them. In a lot of ways, she'd had the makings of a _Mando'ad_ …

But she wasn't, and she never would be, that was something Ghes knew he'd always have to keep in his mind. As different a Jedi as she was, she was still a Jedi, and _Jettisse_ had never mixed well with _Mando'ade_. That didn't mean they couldn't be friends, of course, it just meant he had to be careful around her. Besides, it wasn't appropriate for a commanding officer to be too _familiar_ with a direct subordinate.

"Ghes?"

"What?" He said, a little disoriented as he realized just how lost in his thoughts he'd been.

"I asked you to grab me the size eleven hydrospanner." Ahsoka said, looking up at him with what was either bemusement or annoyance, it was hard to tell with the goggles.

"Oh." Ghes said, grabbing the tool and passing it down to her. "Sorry, I guess I zoned out for a minute there."

"You okay?" She asked as she turned back to her work. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He reassured her. "I just have a lot on my mind right now. Burdens of command, you know?"

"Well try not to do that next time we're in the field." She teased, handing the hydrospanner back up to him along with the component she'd used it to remove. "You wouldn't want to get yourself killed and leave me to have to run this tub by myself, would you?"

"No, I guess not." He agreed, chuckling softly as he took the offered items. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on dying any time soon."

Yes, they could definitely still be friends, at least as long as Ghes had anything to say about it, and, for now at least, that was just fine with him.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

If I'm being honest, at least half the reason I wrote that scene was because I thought of the idea of Ahsoka in that mechanic's garb and I lack the artistic talent to draw anything other than straight on shots of suits of armor, so I had to write a scene around it. It's definitely not the first scene I've ever written off of one idea for an image/joke, and it's unlikely to be the last.

No reviews this week, so I can get right into talking about the chapter.

At no point do I ever want anyone to tell me "That's not how the Force works!" when it comes to how I portray the Star Wars universe's signature mystical element (and, admittedly, all-purpose plot sealant). Just know that my understanding of the Force is based heavily in Post-ROTJ literature, mainly _Legacy_ _of_ _the Force_ and _Fate of the Jedi_ , so I'm not coming entirely out of left field here. I'm interested in hearing what opinions you might have about the angle I went with though.

Not much else to say really, which I guess is kind of odd considering that this is really the culminating event if Part I. Marczak (the original story) was my first attempt at writing romance, and I still think it turned out rather well considering that fact. I'd like to think that that this is one hundred percent an improvement over that original scene, but I'm obviously biased in that regard.

There'll be more to talk about next chapter, when the effects of all this Force nonsense become clear, and _Retaliation_ gets some unexpected guests in the aftermath of the Invasion of Umbara (which I'm sure will go great!).

Until then, remember to follow and favorite if you enjoyed, and leave a review to let me know what you're thinking! Seriously, it's weirdly tied into my self-confidence as an author for some reason!

Don't worry, that was (mostly) sarcasm.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

The invasion of Umbara did _not_ go well.

No, that was too much of an understatement. The invasion of Umbara was a disaster, horribly mishandled in almost every regard. Republic forces were totally unprepared for the situation on the ground, being caught off guard by everything from the hostile environment to the Umbaran weapons. Ahsoka had been away from most of the heaviest fighting with Ghes and his men, acting as pathfinders for the initial landings, but even from a distance she could feel the disturbance created by the carnage. When they'd finally linked back up with Republic forces after twelve hours, she couldn't bring herself to look at the casualty list.

The ARFs mission was over now though, they were being withdrawn from the campaign, and, according to Ghes, returning to Coruscant for R&R. Ahsoka wasn't entirely enthused about this. After all, the whole reason she'd been with Ghes's battalion was to avoid returning to Coruscant. But she also realized that she couldn't avoid Galactic City forever, and, after a week spent laying in the mud, she was sick of field work.

The first thing Ahsoka noticed when she stepped out of the gunship that had brought her, Ghes, and around a dozen other men back to _Retaliation_ was how crowded the landing bay was. Ironically, it looked almost like you'd expect a military starship's hanger to look, rather than the droid run ghost town it usually was. Disturbingly, however, most of the extra personnel were walking wounded, many of whom watched over more severely injured comrades on stretchers.

"What's going on?" Ahsoka said, unable to understand why so many wounded were being brought _here_ of all places.

Ghes, standing next to her, stopped a nearby crewman and took his datapad.

"Some brain trust forgot to requisition a medical frigate." He said, swiping at the device's screen as he scrolled through information. "General Kenobi wants us to drop these men off at medstation Commenor on our way back to Triple-zero."

Ahsoka looked around at the casualties. Almost all of them were either from the 501st and 212th, though she didn't recognize any of the individual troopers. The sense of relief that gave her was more than a little uncomfortable.

"Ahsoka!"

She heard the voice at almost the same time as she felt his presence.

"Master?" She said, turning to look at Anakin as he pushed through the crowd of clones toward her. What was he doing here? Was he wounded?

As he drew closer, Ahsoka saw that, no, he wasn't wounded. That still left the first question, though.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, hugging him.

"The Council called me back to Coruscant." He responded. "And Obi Wan said you were heading back as well, so I decided to hitch a ride."

Ghes, briefly forgotten, coughed to get their attention.

"General." Ghes greeted, saluting.

"Colonel." Anakin said, returning the gesture. "I hope my Padawan didn't give you too much trouble."

"Not at all, general." Ghes responded, smiling.

Outwardly, Ghes appeared completely calm in the face of his commanding officer, but Ahsoka knew better. He was panicking, she could feel it, and that made _her_ want to panic, because if she could feel it, there was no reason Anakin couldn't. It was something she should have considered, that helping Ghes, for a lack of a better term, "turn off" his mental defenses would expose his mind to other Force users as well. And, as far as she could tell, Ghes hadn't turned them back "on" because she could still read him.

 _If he feels Ghes panicking_ , She thought, _he'll definitely know something's up, then he'll start asking questions…_

Anakin raised an eyebrow, and Ahsoka felt her heart stop… until he started laughing

"Now that can't be the truth." He said, then, looking at Ahsoka, asked; "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing!" She insisted, perhaps more defensive than was appropriate.

"It's true, general." Ghes said. "Unless you want to count a few bruises from training."

"Training?" Anakin said, nudging Ahsoka with his elbow. "I hope you didn't embarrass him too much."

"Hard to when he cheats." She responded.

Anakin gave Ghes a questioning look.

"I do." He admitted. "But she beats me every time I don't, so…"

That was a bit of an exaggeration, if only because he rarely didn't have some dirty trick up his sleeve when they sparred, but they normally only worked once, and, after that, she usually had him.

"I'll have to watch you two go at it before we get to Coruscant." Anakin said, making Ahsoka blush.

"Have you gotten your cabin assignment yet, general?" Ghes asked, once again tapping away at the datapad, and thankfully changing the subject.

"No." Anakin answered. "Not yet."

"Then here," Ghes said, handing the datapad to him. "Cabin number and lock code are on here, and there's a deck plan if you have trouble finding it."

"Thank you, colonel." Anakin said, starting to walk away. "I'll find both of you later!"

Once she'd lost sight of Anakin, Ahsoka finally allowed herself to relax.

"That went… well." She said.

And she meant it, too. That was honestly the best way that interaction could have gone, and it threw her off.

"Yea." Ghes said, laughing nervously. "I was freaking out."

"I know." She said, joining his laughter. "I almost did to."

"I know." Ghes said, laughing louder now.

But then he suddenly stopped.

"How did I know that?" He asked.

 _How did he know that?_ Ahsoka thought. She considered this for a moment alongside Anakin's apparent inability to notice anything up with Ghes when she'd been able to quite clearly feel his panic. The answer she came up with was… simple.

"When our minds were…" She didn't know exactly how to describe it, touching, intertwined? "… _together_ , we must have established some sort of bond."

"So no one else can tell what I'm thinking?" Ghes said, scratching his head. "You just have a 'back door'?"

"Sort of." She agreed. It was a crude way of putting it, but, in truth, Ahsoka didn't have a better way to explain it.

"Th Force is _weird_." Ghes said without a hint of irony, and Ahsoka just had to laugh.

He didn't know the half of it.

* * *

Of all the stupid scenarios Ghes had ever thought of for their training, why did he pick a fistfight?

Or, rather, why was this the one he decided to do in front of Anakin?

"Keep your guard up!" Her master yelled from the sidelines.

Ahsoka sighed, sidestepping another blow. As if she _didn't already know that_. She swore, sometimes Anakin's "help" wasn't very helpful. Ghes threw a right hook, which she ducked. He was willing to let her win, she could feel, but she made sure he knew that that wasn't what she wanted. The sentiment was appreciated, if a bit insulting, but she was going to win on her own. It helped both that he wasn't wearing armor, and that there wasn't really any way for Ghes to cheat in a fight like this short of biting. She got the feeling he know exactly how _that_ would end.

Ghes threw another hook, this time with his left. Ahsoka back stepped, then kicked Ghes in his exposed side. He was knocked back and she followed up quickly, sweeping his legs low and sending him falling to the mat with an audible slap. Then she pounced, straddling his torso and pinning his arms with her knees.

"Nice, Ahsoka!" Anakin yelled behind her, but she hardly heard him.

There, breath still heavy and blood still running hot, Ahsoka and Ghes's eyes met…

* * *

Anakin was concerned.

It had been a little over an hour since Ahsoka and Col. Marczak had very abruptly ended their sparring session and disappeared. Ahsoka in particular had looked very…, for a lack of a better word, flustered when she'd left the gym without saying more than three words to him. Anakin knew that he tended to worry about Ahsoka a little too much, but, in this case, his concern felt pretty justified.

Now if only he could find her.

"Trooper!" Anakin called out to the first clone he saw.

"General." The man said, snapping to attention.

"At ease, trooper." Anakin said, waving dismissively. "I just need directions."

"Of course, sir." The trooper said, relaxing visibly. "Where to?"

"I'm actually looking for Commander Tano." Anakin admitted. "Do you know where she is?"

"Well…" The clone said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Her cabin is around twelve forward, C-deck, I think, but I saw her with the colonel less than an hour ago, so you might want to ask him."

That was odd. Ahsoka and Marczak had left the gym separately. Maybe they'd met up again afterward to discuss their training session?

"Thank you, trooper." Anakin said, nodding curtly as he walked away.

He could always just ask Ahsoka why she'd met back up with Marczak when he found her. He'd start by looking in her cabin.

* * *

Ahsoka wasn't sure how to describe how she felt at this moment, after they'd, for the lack of a better term, "moved forward" with their relationship.

Part of her felt odd being so coy after what they'd done, especially in her own thoughts, but another part of her seemed to believe that it gave the whole affair more of a mystique about it. Though this was somewhat ruined by her link with Ghes, who's own thoughts were far less… _poetic_.

"Don't say it." She groaned.

"Say what?" Ghes asked with feigned innocence.

"You know _exactly_ what you were going to say." Ahsoka continued accusingly. "Don't ruin this."

"I was…"

Whatever Ghes's undoubtedly witty response was going to be, it was interrupted by a knocking on the door.

"Colonel," Came Anakin's voice from outside. "Have you seen Ahsoka? She's not in her cabin and some of the men said she was with you earlier."

 _Oh no_ , Ahsoka thought, panicking.

"Colonel?" Anakin repeated. "Hello?"

Ahsoka looked up at Ghes. Despite his somehow calm outward appearance, he was panicking as much as she was, but Ghes wasn't one to freeze. Reaching around her, he opened a drawer under the bunk upon which they lay and grabbed two undershirts. He handed one to her and pulled the other on himself before returning to dig their respective undergarments out of the pile of discarded clothing on the floor next to them.

"Colonel?!" Anakin yelled a third time. "Are you even…"

Ahsoka realized too late that she should have been trying to hide herself in the Force, not that it would have done much good when Anakin began actively searching the room with his senses. As he extended his awareness to encompass the cabin, their minds touched, and Ahsoka retreated from him. But the damage was already done.

Anakin Skywalker was a man prone to bouts of extreme anger, and Ahsoka knew this well, but rarely, if ever, had he become so enraged so quickly. Within seconds, the tip of a blue lightsaber lanced out of the door control panel, filling the air with the scent of fused wires and melting metal as it burned its way through the locking mechanism. The door was dragged open, screeching along its track, and Anakin burst into the room, lightsaber no longer active, but still in hand.

"What's going on here?!" He shouted, reaching out with his free hand and pinning Ghes to the wall at the rear of the bunk.

"Anakin!" Ahsoka pleaded, sitting on the edge of the bunk and clutching the sheet to her breast. "Stop!"

She could see it, the look in her master's eyes. He was ready to _kill_ Ghes.

"Ahsoka…" Anakin growled. "How could you do this?"

She didn't know what to say, didn't know what she could say to make him understand. After all, it was something she'd had to think so hard about…

Ghes laughed, a pained laugh through compressed ribs, but a laugh all the same, and that drew Anakin's attention back to him.

"What's so funny?" He snarled, pressing harder on the already pinned man in the Force.

"You…" Ghes responded, wheezing from the pressure on his chest. "You're a hypocrite…"

Anakin flinched, Ghes had struck a nerve.

"What's he talking about?" Ahsoka said, standing off the bed and letting the sheet drop.

"Nothing!" Anakin shouted, thumb hovering over the activation switch on his lightsaber. "He's a liar!"

"He's sleeping with a senator." Ghes said, struggling against the invisible grip holding him down. "Has been for years."

 _Padme_. It was Ahsoka's first thought, and it made far too much sense for her to deny. So many things began falling into place; how they always seemed to spend more time around her then any other senator, how Anakin always disappeared when they were on Coruscant… Why hadn't she seen it before?

"How…" Anakin whispered, stunned.

"Soldiers talk, general." Ghes said, a pined smile barely touching his lips. "and you're not as subtle as you think."

"It's Padme, isn't it?" Ahsoka accused, taking a step toward her master. "You've been sleeping with Padme for _years_ and you have the nerve…"

"Yes, I do!" Anakin cut her off. "Because it's not the same!"

"How's it any different?" Ahsoka demanded. "What, are you two married or something?"

Anakin didn't want to answer that, she could tell by the way he was avoiding her eyes. _No_ , she thought, _it_ _couldn't be…_

"You're _married_!" She screamed. "And you were going to lecture _me_ about the code?!"

"You don't understand…" Anakin tried to explain.

"No, I forgot, you're Anakin Skywalker!" She continued, shouting down his explanation. "The rules don't apply to you, do they?"

Maybe it was because he realized there was no talking to her, maybe he realized she was right, but, for whatever reason, Anakin didn't answer. Instead, he released Ghes, replaced his lightsaber on his belt, and walked away.

"Whoa…" Ghes said, breathing heavy as his lungs refilled with air. "Are you all right?"

Ahsoka didn't know. As her blood cooled and she began to calm down, she realized how terrible it had all been. Anakin had been, for whatever reason, ready to kill Ghes. Why would he react so violently, though, when he'd made the same choice she had? Anakin was _married_ , a concept she had trouble wrapping her head around, and that was far worse in the eyes of the Jedi than anything she'd done with Ghes. _No_ , she thought, _there has to be another reason._

"Ahsoka?" Ghes said again, pulling himself to the edge of the bunk. "You okay?"

"I have to go after him." She admitted.

Ghes's eyes widened in surprise, but he soon began to nod.

Ahsoka didn't need his leave to do anything, but it made her feel better to know Ghes agreed.

Anakin hadn't made it very far by the time she'd left the cabin and started after him, not even to the end of the hallway, and he didn't look like he was going anywhere in a hurry now either. Was he expecting her to come after him? Maybe, but it was more likely he just kept stopping to punch the bulkhead.

"Anakin, wait!" Ahsoka cried out as she ran after him.

He stopped, but he didn't turn around.

"What?!" Anakin snapped over his shoulder.

"I don't want to leave it like this." She said, stopping a mere meter from him. "Please."

Anakin sighed.

"You don't understand, Ahsoka." He said, shaking his head.

"Then _make_ me understand." She insisted

"Marczak?" Anakin said, finally turning toward her. "Do you care about him?"

"What?"

"What you're doing with him," Anakin restated. "is it just a physical thing, or do you care about him?"

"What kind of question is that?" She asked, dumbfounded, but, from Anakin's expression, she knew he demanded an answer.

"Of course I do." She said.

Anakin sighed again.

"It's not easy, you know." He said.

"I do know." Ahsoka answered.

"No," Anakin countered, shaking his head. "I don't think you do. Doing this, keeping my marriage a secret, not being able to really be with Padme, it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

"But you do it anyway."

Ahsoka had never really been able to read her master through the Force, he'd always been too chaotic, but she also knew him well enough that she didn't need to. He wasn't a reflective man, preferring instead to live in the moment, but now…

"I don't know what you want me to say Ahsoka." He said finally. "I won't give you my blessing, not when I think you're making a mistake, but this isn't a mistake I can stop you from making."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Two reviews this week (thankfully, I was starting to worry after last week), so I'll get right into things.

nightwish635; not giving me much to respond to, but nevertheless appreciated! As previously stated, updates are on Wednesdays, though we are sadly nearing the end of this block of updates. See the author's notes for the prologue for further information.

8th, once again bringing the grade A discussion material, I see. No offense to the rest of you who leave reviews, but this guy(?) just gives me a lot more to work with. Glad to see you once again mostly agree with me, while I try to be open minded, it's good to know that someone else is out there who is so unassailably correct about everything.

I remember that episode of _Rebels_ quite clearly, and how utterly ridiculous it seemed at the time. I've since realized that, while it hasn't become any less of a stupid idea (adding in any element of time travel into Star Wars other than the pseudo time travel that is flow walking is, in my opinion, a horrible mistake), I've since realized that it was more a one off _Deus ex machina_ to bring Ahsoka back to life, which is really a shame if you ask me. Despite my obvious love for the character, I really do believe that Ahsoka should have died fighting Vader on Malachor, for the same reason I would have liked _TLJ_ more if Finn had died destroying that laser-ram thing on Crait. For both, it would have been a satisfying end to their respective character arcs, with Finn finally realizing that he can't just run away from his past, instead facing it and sacrificing himself to save him newfound friends, and, in Ahsoka's case, facing the past she'd spent so much time trying to get away from (a path she started down at the end of the _Ahsoka_ novel when she became Fulcrum). Feel free to tell me if I'm off base, but that's how I've been interpreting it, and I honestly came to terms with Ahsoka's seemingly inevitable violent end the moment she first appeared on screen. Then again, I currently have no intention of writing her death in a story, so maybe I'm just talking out of my ass.

As for the recent announcement of the upcoming show _The Mandalorian_ , I'll admit I'm not super optimistic about it. Part of that is, of course, how horribly mangled Mando culture was in the transition form Legends to the Disney canon. There was just something about Karen Traviss's _Mando'ade_ that I connected with, probablyl the idea of a warrior culture that valued family, loyalty and strength while being inherently free from prejudice against anyone other than outsiders (not racist, sexist, etc.), and what ended replacing it just seemed so shallow and generic by comparison. Another thing that didn't fill me with confidence was the photo they released, supposedly of the titular character. It took me less than ten minutes to find more than a dozen fan-made suits in all sorts of varied patterns that looked leagues better than what was apparently the best a costume department backed by Disney's resources could do (especially sad since the only thing they seemed interested in keeping about Mandalorians was the armor). Combine that with a broad disappointment with much of what this new era of Star Wars has had to offer, particularly on screen, and I can't really bring myself to be excited for much these days. That doesn't mean I won't be watching, though, and I do hope they manage to surprise me.

Oh, and I'm sorry that it always takes a few hours for your reviews to appear, I have to moderate guest reviews now because of an issue a few months ago with suspicious reviews appearing on my, as well as a few other authors', stories. I hate that I have to do that, but I suppose it's better than whatever my somewhat paranoid mind is convinced the alternative is.

Alright, finally getting to this week's chapter. If there's thing I can actually _thank_ Rian Johnson for, albeit begrudgingly, it's that he introduced more arcane Force abilities into the "mainstream". None of the "new" Force powers in the _TLJ_ are unprecedented (both the idea of projected images and strong individual links were present in various post-ROTJ works), even if they're different from their Legends "counterparts". But at least the idea of Ahsoka and Ghes more or less accidentally creating a special sort of link/bond between them in the Force seems less out there than it would have otherwise, right? Eh, at least it's not the weirdest idea I've ever had, and let, like 8th said, what the Force can do tends to change depending on who's telling the story.

I said I was going to start switching up the point of view character form time to time, and this is the first, albeit short, example. This is mostly going to be something I reserve in the future for times when I feel the story will benefit most from showing a scene from the perspective of a character other than Ahsoka. Most of the time, this will be because Ahsoka's not there to witness what I feel is a plot relevant/crucial event, but in at least one case it will happen while she's in the room (though I don't think you'll begrudge me for it when you read who's that scene is from.

I really didn't want to drag out Anakin finding out about Ahsoka and Ghes's relationship to more than this chapter. While there's a good case to be made that keeping him ignorant would allow for more comedic possibilities, I don't really write comedy to any great degree. Besides, Obi Wan fills that role just fine when necessary.

Next, I feel the need to make something perfectly clear because it seemed to confuse some of my test readers; Ghes didn't know about Anakin and Padme. What Ghes was talking about when he called Anakin a hypocrite was an assumption based on various things he heard Coruscant Guard troopers, who you'll recall he worked with at the beginning of the war, say about Anakin sneaking around the Senate building and ducking into Senators' offices (well, one particular Senator), and otherwise doing odd things that would lead one to believe that he's either conspiring to overthrow the Republic or having an affair. Since Ghes isn't stupid, he figured it was the later, but had no idea or inclination to learn who he was having an affair with, and didn't even suspect that he was secretly married. While I thought this was all pretty clear without me having to lay it out, because the pieces are all there waiting to be put together, I'm also open to the idea that it might have been a little _too_ sub textual, at least for my friends.

Something that I most definitely laid right out but that some people might disagree with is the idea that Ahsoka, even at this point, didn't really suspect that Anakin and Padme were anything more than friends. Now, we know that Ahsoka was most likely aware of this by the time she left the Jedi Order, if only from that memorable little exchange with Anakin right before she essentially walks away from her life up to that point as well as the show. What we don't know is exactly when she figured this out, and the Battle of Umbara was significantly before that point. Additionally, I'm working off the idea that people tend not to notice things they're not looking for (which is the only explanation why everyone in the damn Order didn't figure out other than willful ignorance), and she does put everything together pretty quickly once she does start thinking about the two's relationship in that light. Ahsoka's a bright girl, but when you live most of you life assuming everyone around you just doesn't have romantic relationships, why would you be looking for evidence that they do? Obviously she figured it out in canon at some point, and I'll say that if I hadn't written it this way, the confrontation with Anakin had never happened and Ghes had never brought the idea up, the context for a lot of the things Anakin does around Padme that Ahsoka gained from being in her own relationship would probably have led her to figuring it out for herself the next time she saw the two together.

Okay, I think that's everything I wanted to talk about. Next chapter's pretty low key as Part I comes to a close, and I'll sadly be leaving in just a few weeks, but I have a few plans for before my departure that I don't want to discuss just yet.

Until then, thank you for reading, don't forget to follow/favorite if you enjoyed, and keep the reviews coming, every one of them really does brighten up my day.


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

Padme was bored.

It was a terrible thing to say, she knew, but it was true. Her daily routine as senator of Naboo was just so dull whenever the Senate was in between sessions. Sometimes, it seemed like the flow of documents across her desk would never end. Larger matters she didn't mind dealing with, but so much of it lately had been inane and, quite frankly, idiotic. What did she care that the agricultural interests in Chomell sector had suffered a point one percent decline in revenue this year? Didn't any of these people understand there was a war on?

"You look absolutely miserable."

Padme almost screamed when she heard the voice in her ear and felt the breath on her neck. Instinctively, she reached for the holdout blaster mounted under her desk and spun her chair around to find… her husband.

"Anakin!" She said, both relieved and aggravated by his presence. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"What's the matter, you not happy to see me?" He said, trademark cocky smile plastered across his face.

Padme sighed.

"Of course I am." She said, smiling back briefly before sitting up to kiss him.

They held the kiss for a few moments, savoring the intimacy they'd seldom been able to enjoy in their marriage.

"What are you doing back on Coruscant?" Padme said after they'd separated. "Last I heard you were headed for Umbara…"

"The Chancellor recalled me."

"Why?"

Anakin shrugged.

"There were a few urgent matters he wanted my take on." He said. "That's all I can really say about it."

"Okay then." Padme said. "So you already met with him?"

"He sent a speeder to pick me up at the spaceport, and afterwards I came right here…"

"And nearly gave me a heart attack." She finished for him.

This time he looked a little more embarrassed as he answered.

"I wanted to surprise you." He said.

"And you couldn't accomplish that by coming through the front door?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Anakin's smile was different this time, Padme could tell. He was nervous about something.

"Anakin," She said. "what's wrong?"

He sighed heavily and the humorous veil lifted. He moved to her side, crossing his arms and leaning on the edge of the desk.

"We might have a problem." He said, suddenly very sullen and serious. "Somebody knows about us."

"What?" She gasped. "How much…"

"Everything." He answered before she could finish. "He knows everything."

How could this have happened, Padme thought, they'd always been so careful. At least they thought they had. Looking back…

"Who?" She asked.

"One of my men." Anakin said. "One of the non-clone officers, Col. Marczak."

The name sounded vaguely familiar to Padme.

"Did he used to work with the Coruscant Guard?" She asked.

Anakin nodded.

"I think so." He said. "Near the beginning of the war. Now he's in charge of my recon teams."

"And he just confronted you with this? Out of nowhere?"

"Not exactly…"

Anakin left the desk and moved to the window at the rear of the office.

"Do you remember when I told you about reassigning Ahsoka for a little while?" He asked.

"Yes, it was the last time you were here." She said. "Why?"

"Because I placed her with Marczak, and…" He stuttered, as if it was difficult for him to say what came next. "I caught them together."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I caught them _in bed_ together." Anakin said, leaning with is arm against the window. "Ahsoka's sleeping with him."

"Oh my…" Padme had known Ahsoka for a while now, and she'd seen her get close with a boy her own age, but a fellow officer… "How old is he?"

Anakin turned around, leaning back on the window and holding his hand over his face.

"I don't know," He said, clearly frustrated and confused by the whole situation. "I think twenty maybe..."

"Okay, okay…" She said getting out of her chair and pacing around to the other side of the desk. "So he's not all that much older than her."

"She's seventeen!" Anakin said, incredulously.

"I was queen of Naboo at _fourteen_." Padme countered. "Besides, legally speaking, Ahsoka's old enough to make her own decisions."

"But they're moving so fast, she's barely even known him for a month." He said, moving back toward the desk. "And the Jedi Code…"

"Anakin." She interjected. "Are you really going to stand here, in front of your _wife_ , and talk about the Jedi Code?"

"No." He sighed, defeated. "But I'm worried that Ahsoka doesn't understand what she's getting herself into."

Padme smiled lightly and moved around the desk to place her hands on Anakin's chest.

"I know." She said, looking up into his eyes. "But if you fight her on this it will only push her away. Let her maker her own decisions, just be there to catch her when she falls."

Anakin looked down at her, and she could see in his eyes that he knew she was right.

"And if you want," Padme continued. "I can talk to her, girl to girl."

"I don't know what I'd do without you." Anakin said, embracing her. "I love you."

Wrapping her arms around his waist, Padme nestled up to her husband's chest.

"I know."

* * *

Ahsoka was glad she didn't drink much, because Ghes did, and he was _heavy_.

Ghes had "neglected" to tell her that, according to the GAR organizational tables at least, _Retaliation_ wasn't on Coruscant, the _Acclamator_ -class transport _Ruusan_ was. How, exactly, he'd done this, or whether _Ruusan_ was even a real ship, Ahsoka didn't want to know, but it meant that she didn't have to report to the Temple.

It was a first for her, being on Coruscant without the normal restrictions of her Jedi duties. With no where she had to go and a pretty good reason to avoid her master, Ahsoka decided this free time was best spent with Ghes. After all, they had to spend time together outside of "work" eventually, right?

This sentiment seemed a little hollow though when they went to a GAR bar filled mostly with his men and, from the cap badges she recognized, men from other elite units; airborne, Galactic Marines, other ARFs, even a few ARCs and commandos. Ahsoka didn't drink much though. That wasn't to say that she never drank at all, she'd just never much cared for the effect it had on her. Maybe it was because her senses were so naturally sharp, but there was something profoundly disconcerting to her about those senses being dulled to the degree even a moderate amount of alcohol caused.

The second reason, and probably why this was the first time she'd ever been in a GAR bar, was something Rex had said to her the first time she'd tried to tag along with him on shore leave. He had, of course, refused to bring her with him, saying that it was inappropriate for an officer to get drunk in front of their subordinates. While she'd argued about it at the time, she had to admit now that Rex had probably been right. Even Ahsoka had to recognize that, at the time, she'd just been a kid and probably would have overdone it, especially considering that, at the time, she'd never had a drink before. Not to mention this had been before clones had pushed most of the locals out of the bars around the new fleet yards, so a drunken teenage Jedi would have gotten _way_ too much attention in all the worst ways.

Ahsoka found out a few months later how much she owed Rex for preventing would likely have been the most embarrassing moment of her life, when she finally did have her first drink. That incident, the one and only time Ahsoka had truly been drunk, had involved her, another Padawan named Scout, and a peer-pressured Barriss sharing a smuggled bottle of an extremely high proof Mandalorian liquor she _never_ wanted to see again. To make a long story Ahsoka still had trouble remembering the details of short, the night had gone very poorly and all three of the girls had to take multiple extra duty shifts to ensure that nobody other than the on-duty apprentices would ever hear of it. That was the third reason she avoided heavy drinking, as, since that fiasco, Ahsoka had always been very weary of alcohol, never allowing herself more than a few drinks in a night in order to avoid a _repeat performance_.

Ghes was not like that at all. He quite clearly had no problem drinking with his men, and, unlike most clones, they drank _a lot_. It was actually rather concerning to Ahsoka, if only for the sheer volume they'd collectively downed by the time they finally called it a night. Thankfully, Ghes wasn't a bad drunk, it seemed to mostly effect his speech and motor skills, though that was to a degree where he seemed unable to support his own weight. Ahsoka had to carry him out of the bar and to the speeder he'd conveniently had the codes to, then fly them both to the address Ghes just barely managed to punch into the nav unit before passing out in the passenger seat.

By the time they reached what turned out to be an apartment tower and Ahsoka had lugged Ghes's semi-conscious body up to what she hoped was the right floor, she was about ready to pass out herself. Ghes was _heavy_. Thank the Force he'd had the good sense to wear a regular uniform instead of his armor.

"Stop…" Ghes moaned, gesturing weakly at an apartment door.

At this point, Ahsoka was listening more to what Ghes _thought_ he was saying then to what was actually coming out of his mouth, so "stop" sounded more like an incomprehensible dialect of Shyriiwook then Basic.

"This is it?" Ahsoka asked, holding him up near the keypad. "Can you key in the lock code, or…"

His response was a slurred, even in his own mind, string of expletives from a dozen languages, half of which she didn't recognize. But he managed to input the code and the door slid open.

Ahsoka didn't have a lot of experience when it came to judging apartments, but she felt fairly safe in assuming that what she was looking at now was sparsely furnished by anyone's standards. It wasn't a bad layout for one person, a single main living space with a small area set aside for food preparation, and two doors she assumed lead to a bedroom and a refresher. The room seemed empty though, possibly because the only furniture was a chair, a small couch, and low table which, together, took up at most a quarter of the available space. All of this, combined with how neat everything appeared, made it clear that Ghes didn't really _live_ here.

She dropped Ghes in the chair, happy to get the load off her aching shoulders, and took a knee in front of him.

"You going to live, Ghes?" She joked, patting him on the cheek. "You need anything?"

"Caf…" He answered, speech still slurred beyond recognition for anyone but her.

"Okay…" She sighed, standing and moving toward the kitchenette. "Give me a few…"

"No…" He grunted, shaking his head. "Instant…"

It didn't take her long to find what he was talking about. Ghes hadn't exactly fully stocked this place, and she was somehow both surprised and not surprised at all to find a box of GAR caf packs stashed in one of the cupboards. Ahsoka involuntarily curled her nose. This stuff was nasty, why would he _choose_ to have this? She made it anyway, heating the water first so it would at least be bearable, but she only poured one mug.

Ahsoka sat on the end of the couch nearest Ghes while he nursed the beverage for around a half hour. When he'd finished, she had to admit he at least _looked_ better, even managing to place the empty mug on the table without falling over.

"Military caf." He said, speech far more understandable then it had been. "Good for sobering up."

"Feeling better then?" Ahsoka asked, a little more amused then she perhaps should have been.

"Yea." He replied, though he began messaging his temple. She wasn't going to envy the state he'd be in by morning.

"I swear." Ghes continued. "Jango's blood must have been made of liquor, because it is impossible to keep up with those boys."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes.

"This isn't a regular thing with you, is it?"

"Don't worry," Ghes assured her. "if it was, I'd be dead by now."

"It'd better not be." She threatened playfully. "I have enough problems without adding an alcoholic _ex_ -boyfriend to the list."

"Message received." He said, smirking. "Look on the bright side, my mom always told me; 'Ghes, if you're going to be with someone, make sure you see them drunk'. Now you've seen me drunk."

"Good advice." Ahsoka said.

"What about you?" Ghes asked. "When do I get to see what you look like hammered?"

"You don't." She answered. "Because _I_ don't."

"Come on." He said, disbelievingly. "Everyone has too much sometimes."

"Once." Ahsoka admitted. "And it's not an experience I'd like to relive."

"Ooo…" Ghes said, intrigued. "There's a story there. You ever going to tell me?"

Ahsoka smiled, stood, walked over to Ghes and sat back down on his lap.

"Maybe…" She said, kissing him on the forehead. "But not tonight. You ready for bed?"

"Help me up." Ghes groaned.

She didn't have to carry him like she had before, Ghes had regained enough of his strength that he only needed to steady himself on her as they made their way to the bedroom. Said room was a little better then she'd expected. The bed was at least twice as wide as the bank they'd been sharing aboard _Retaliation_. She did see a minor problem though.

"Do you have any more pillows?" Ahsoka asked as she helped him sit on the edge of the bed.

"I think in the closet." He said, gesturing to a door.

Ahsoka opened the indicated door, a light activating automatically to illuminate the space. She found two pillows on a shelf almost immediately, but she noticed something which interested her more.

Laid out on a rack mounted to the back wall was a full suit of Mandalorian armor painted in deep purple highlighted with sand gold. There were a few differences she noticed immediately that set this set, which Ahsoka assumed belonged to Ghes, apart from others she'd seen. For one, it included a dyed-gold kama, which she knew wasn't uncommon, but was worth noting. It was also bulkier, appearing as if it would provide more protection than was usual, especially for the upper arms and thighs. Thirdly…

"No jetpack?" She asked, not turning away from the displayed armor. The way it was lit by the automatic lighting appeared very deliberate, as if Ghes had carefully adjusted it all. And it was beautiful.

" _Buir_ never used one." Ghes explained. "And I'll admit I've never been to fond of them either. You like it?"

Ahsoka nodded, still looking at the armor.

"It's…" She started, trying to think of another way to describe it, but eventually just went with: "Beautiful."

"Thank you." Ghes said. "I made it myself."

"Really?" She asked, impressed, and turned back to face him.

"The _beskar_ has been in my family for generations." He said. "But I reforged the mismatched plates from a dozen different suits into that one. So, yeah, really."

Even to someone of Ahsoka's technical skills, that was impressive, if only for the electronic components she could see worked into the gauntlets and assumed were worked in every other piece of the armor as well.

"And the colors?" She asked, assuming some sort of meaning behind the paint job.

"Purple's an old family color." Ghes explained.

"And gold?"

That seemed to cast a shadow over Ghes's face, who looked grim, as if recalling a painful memory.

"When my _Buir_ was young." He began. "Back before the war between Jaster Mereel and the Death Watch really got going, Clan Marczak tried to bring Mereel and Vizla to the negotiating table. _Buir_ 's _ba'buir_ had stayed neutral when the other clans started taking sides, and he wanted to prevent the whole thing from turning into the Civil War it eventually would. Vizla, Tor Vizla, not his sycophant son who runs things nowadays, didn't like that idea. He wanted war, and he didn't want anyone trying to stop it, especially not a man who'd repeatedly refused to back his claim to being _Mand'alor_. By the time Vizla's men where through, there were only a half-dozen Marczak's left, my _buir_ and _ba'buir_ included. After that, we joined Mereel's True Mandalorians and added the gold to our armor to symbolize the quest for revenge against Vizla and his butchers."

"Oh…" Ahsoka began, unsure what else to say. She didn't recognize most of the names he'd mentioned; Jaster Mereel, True Mandalorians, _Tor_ Vizla, but she didn't really need to too get the point.

"Yeah." Ghes said, looking a little more sullen than he had before he'd told his story.

"You know…" She said, trying to shift the topic as she walked back to the bed, half-forgotten pillows in hand. "You should really wear that armor more often."

"I used to wear it every day." He said wistfully as he began to strip off his uniform. "Figured it wasn't such a good idea after the first time two jumped me on my way into work."

"Still…" She said, following suit and climbing into bed next to Ghes. "It's a shame for it to sit in a closet all day. Besides, I bet you look great in it."

"Oh, trust me." Ghes said, sliding closer and wrapping his arm around her. "I do."

Sleep didn't come as easily for Ahsoka that night as it did for Ghes.

It had been like this for the past few nights, ever since Anakin had found out about her and Ghes in the worst possible way. She worried, not just about what Anakin might say to others, but about what he had said to her. Did she really know what she was doing, how hard being with Ghes would be? Part of her wanted to say yes, but still…

Anakin and Padme had been married for more than two years, and Ahsoka knew for a fact the two were rarely able to find time alone. She wanted to believe that it would be different for her and Ghes, but what if it wasn't? Sure, they were both assigned to the 501st, but that had been true for years and she'd never met Ghes until a few months ago. Was the fact that they'd never have a "normal" life just something she'd have to accept? Were stolen days like today all they would ever have?

The last thing to cross Ahsoka's mind before she finally drifted into sleep was hope, a vain hope, born of doubt and longing. Hope that it all would someday be over, the war, the Jedi, all of it. Hope that her and Ghes could have the "normal" life that, deep down, she knew would always elude them. Hope that, one day, they could find peace.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

This is all getting done a lot later than usual, so this one is probably going to be a bit on the shorter side.

First off; Hybrid301, great to hear from you again. As I said before, I felt it was best that Anakin find out about Ahsoka and Ghes as soon as possible. From there, it seemed a natural development for Ahsoka to figure out what was going on between Anakin and Padme, and Ghes happening to have heard some rumors to that effect was a convenient way to make both revelations happen at the same time. It's a tradeoff, for sure, but trading the potential antics involved in trying to keep their relationship secret for more potential character conflict down the line.

8th, don't worry, I tend to babble on quite a bit as well, and I have a dyslexic brother, so I'm pretty good about reading around spelling/grammatical errors. Sadly, I can't really respond to your only direct question, because I didn't have any theories about Snoke after his brief appearance in _The Force Awakens_ , and I guess I'd be in the minority in saying that I didn't think killing him off was that bad an idea, though it probably could have been handled better. But I'm biased, of course, since Jacen Solo was the "final boss" of _Legacy of the Force_ , it makes sense to me that his underdeveloped and infinitely inferior new-canon counterpart have roughly the same role in this story (though I doubt Episode IX will feature anything as awesome as Rey being trained by Boba Fett like Jaina was).

On to this week's chapter, which is sadly going to be the last one I publish for a long time coming, because Part I of _Lives Well Lived_ is now officially concluded.

Like I said last week, this was a very low-key chapter, and the ending is super corny, even by my standards. As with everything, that was intentional, in this case an attempt to balance out how freaking bleak everything is going to be at the end of Part II. I won't spoil details, because I know some of you haven't read _Marczak_ (which I don't encourage, the only reason it's still up is because of my own sentimentality for my first publicly released work) and even if you did it's pretty different this time around, but Part II is titled _Fall_ , so yeah, things don't go great.

One thing I personally like about this chapter is that bit about Ahsoka's bad experience with alcohol. That little element of backstory is entirely of my own invention, something I try not to do with characters I didn't create, but, in this case, I made an exception because of the subject matter. Besides, I don't know of anything shown or written about Ahsoka that would contradict this, and, even if I cared about the new canon, I doubt Ahsoka will be retconned as a heavy drinker at any point in the near future.

Well, I said this was going to be on the short side (at least compared to most of these), so I'm going to end this here. There's going to be one more update before I ship out, definitely next week but possibly not Wednesday, and that's going to be a preview for Part II, currently of indefinite content.

Until then, thank you for reading, and please follow/favorite if you enjoyed and feel encouraged to leave a review.


	11. Chapter Ten

**PART II- Fall**

Chapter Ten

"You wanted to see me, senator?"

"Yes." Padme said, turning in her chair to face her. "Come in, Ahsoka. Take a seat."

Ahsoka nodded and entered the room. She'd felt a little annoyed at first by the senator's summons, it had interrupted a message she'd been recording for Ghes, but she could always finish that later. Besides, Ahsoka found that she enjoyed talking to Padme, even if her view of the woman had been irrevocably changed by the revelation of her true relationship with Anakin.

She took a seat on the edge of the bunk, there being no other place to sit in the small cabin since Padme was occupying the only chair. This ship had seemed an odd choice for this mission, as it was older than most consular ships she'd seen and had far fewer amenities.

"Thank you for agreeing to come along." Padme said, smiling. "I know how much you hate being away from the front."

"It's no problem." Ahsoka said. "No Tycho on this one?"

She'd noted Padme's usual head of security's absence almost immediately after she'd joined with the Senate mission. It was a shame, Ahsoka thought, he seemed a good man to have around in a fight, and she'd had a bad experience with Senate Commandos.

"Senate mission, Senate security." Padme said wistfully. "That's part of the reason I wanted you to come along."

"Part?" Ahsoka said, eyes narrowed.

"Listen, Ahsoka." Padme started, suddenly seeming more awkward then she ever had. "Anakin wanted me to talk to you…"

"Of course he did." Ahsoka said harshly.

How had she not seen this coming? Anakin could never just let anything lie, he always had to try and control everything…

"He's concerned about you." Padme continued.

"I can make my own decisions you know." Ahsoka snapped. "I'm not a child."

"I know, I know." Padme said, clearly trying to be as non-confrontational as possible. "But, sometimes, when it comes to things like this, our emotions can prevent us from seeing all the consequences."

"Like with you and Anakin?" Ahsoka countered.

That threw Padme off a little, Ahsoka could tell. She had to know that Ahsoka knew about her and Anakin, though, so why did she seem so surprised by the question?

"Tell me about him." Padme said after a moment.

"What?" Ahsoka said, unsure where she was going with this.

"You obviously care about this man." Padme explained. "Why? Tell me about him."

"Ghes is… "Ahsoka began, thinking carefully about what she was going to say. " _difficult_ to describe if you've never met him."

"Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, fairly young, used to work with the Coruscant Guard?" Padme asked.

"Yes." Ahsoka confirmed. That was Ghes, or at least a vague description of his physical characteristics.

"Then I have met him, briefly." Padme continued. "He's a handsome man, I see why you like him."

Ahsoka laughed. That was something that rarely entered her mind, at least not consciously, if only because it seemed so shallow. Not to say it wasn't true, she couldn't deny that she was physically attracted to Ghes, it just wasn't something she'd ever really dwelled on. Padme had to have guessed that, either that or she had a very low opinion of Ahsoka, so implying anything else had to be some kind of play. Well then, if Padme wanted to play games…

"That's not the _only_ reason." Ahsoka said, rolling her eyes, toying with the end of one of her lekku, and otherwise doing her best to look _smitten_. "He's a talented officer, really passionate about his men. He's smart, he makes me laugh, and, best of all… _he doesn't treat me like a child_."

"Nobody treats you like a child." Padme insisted.

"Really?" Ahsoka said sharply. "Then why do you and Anakin feel the need to lecture me?"

"That's not what I'm doing…"

"Why can't you both just accept that I want to be with Ghes?!" Ahsoka shouted.

"Because Anakin doesn't think that you understand how hard it's going to be, for _both_ of you." Padme said forcefully. "And, quite frankly, I'm beginning to agree with him."

Ahsoka was beginning to lose her patience with that argument. It had been just over two weeks since she'd seen Ghes, it might be another month before she saw him again. She _understood_ how hard it was to be with someone who was half a galaxy away because she was already living with that difficulty. Why didn't Anakin or Padme seem to understand that?

"As much as you keep insisting that you're not a child," Padme continued. "you are _acting_ like one."

"How?!" Ahsoka questioned. "How am I acting like a child?!"

"I've been trying to have an adult conversation with you," Padme answered. "but you've been nothing but defensive and hostile the whole time."

"Because neither of you has ever told me how what Ghes and I are doing is any different from what you and Anakin have been doing for _years_!" Ahsoka accused. "Why is that?!"

"Because it's not!" Padme admitted. "Not really. But you need to understand…"

"I do." Ahsoka said, standing up. "Every day."

Ahsoka would have walked away then, would've left the cabin without another word. She was done listening to the same argument over and over about how she didn't understand what she was doing. But she couldn't leave, because Padme rose from her chair and stood in her way.

"No!" The older woman said, blocking the door. "You're not just going to storm out of here and avoid this!"

"Then explain!" Ahsoka demanded. "Explain to me what it is I apparently don't understand!"

"You're _both_ soldiers!" Padme shouted. "That's what's different between you and Ghes and Anakin and me, you're both soldiers!"

"So?" Ahsoka said. What did that have to do with anything?

Padme sighed.

"Do you remember when I was captured by _Malevolence_?" She said. "How Anakin almost jeopardized the mission and nearly got him _and_ Obi Wan killed trying to rescue me?"

"Yeah…"

"Do you know how many times he's done something like that?" Padme continued. "More importantly, do you know how much _I_ worry about him fighting on the front lines every day?"

Ahsoka was beginning to see where Padme was going with this, and it gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"You're both on the front lines." Padme said. "What if something happens? What if you get captured, or he does? What if just worrying is enough of a distraction to get one of you killed?"

It was something she hadn't considered before, but that was just it, she _should_ have considered it. Her and Ghes wouldn't have to deal with the same constant worry that other couples felt. Even now, when he was light years away, Ahsoka could feel him in the back of her mind through the Force, it was the bond they shared. Sure, she couldn't communicate much to him, not at this distance, and she couldn't tell exactly what he was doing, but she knew he was safe. But if anything happened to either of them, the other would feel it almost immediately, and if that was while they were in the middle of their own battle…

"I… didn't think about that." Ahsoka admitted somberly.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Padme said. "these things are always _complicated_."

They were, and it bothered Ahsoka more than she wanted it too.

"I think I need to be alone." She said, trying to go around Padme.

"Ahsoka…" Padme said, standing firm and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Please." Ahsoka pleaded. "I just want some time to think."

After a moment, Padme relented, stepping aside and allowing Ahsoka to leave. It took her less than a minute to get back to her cabin, and she planned on remaining there for the rest of the journey to Mandalore. Nobody would question her about it, Jedi where supposed to be reclusive and withdraw, or that's what most people thought anyway. She needed time, time to think about everything Padme had said, and maybe time to finish that message for Ghes.

* * *

The platform was, as always, crowded.

What else could you really expect, though? Since their completion a few months after Geonosis, the Coruscant Fleetyards had become one of the busiest facilities on the already overcrowded city world. Every day, at least a dozen capital ships arrived or departed. Bringing with them tens of thousands of personnel and millions of tons of equipment.

The crowds created when a _Venator_ came to dock were always the worst, these vessels being among the largest in the fleet and carrying the most non-clone navy personnel. And while most would consider this rush off beings and equipment annoying and massively inconvenient, today Ahsoka was counting on the anonymity such an occasion provided.

So far everything had gone according to plan, with the most difficult part of her day so far having been slipping away from her master before he could strong-arm her into accompanying him… wherever he was going. Ahsoka strongly suspected that, although they were both supposed to report back to the Temple, Anakin would mostly likely be going to see Padme as soon as he'd relieved himself of command responsibility for the evening, and the last thing she wanted to do was go with him. Not only would an evening alone with the two come with the possibility of seeing them engage in activities she _did not_ want to think about, it would leave her open to something almost as unpleasant; another "conversation" about her love life.

She'd thankfully been able to prevent the subject of her relationship with Ghes from coming up with anyone other than Rex after Padme had confronted her about it during their diplomatic mission to Sundari. In all fairness, though, the task had been made less difficult by the near constant crises that seemed to plague the Republic, and, more particularly, her life. Before Mandalore had been the Zygerrian adventure, then Lux's liaison with the Death Watch that she'd been dragged into trying to save his neck, and finally Obi Wan's "death" and the subsequent plot on the Chancellor's life. This had all been a double-edged sword though, even beyond the danger to life and limb that was as routine as daily meals by now. Ahsoka had had little time over the past month and change to devote to her and Ghes's new romance. She'd barely been able to communicate with him during all that time outside of recorded messages and a few brief holo-com calls.

Ahsoka was determined to correct this as she moved slowly along with the crowd of disembarking crewmen, all the while scanning the sea of grey uniforms for a hint of familiar camouflage plastoid. Not for the first time today, she considered how much easier it would be for her to loudly announce herself and use a combination of superior rank and the force to part the crowd in front of her. That, though, would've drawn far more attention than she wanted. Instead she'd made an effort to blend further with the men and women around her by donning a "borrowed" fleet-grey fatigue jacket over her normal attire. It wasn't a great disguise, she'd admit, especially since she couldn't wear the uniform cap and just hadn't bothered with the trousers. But it made her stand out slightly less, and no one appeared to be paying any more attention to her than anyone else on the platform, so this was all she needed.

A disadvantage not helped by this anonymity that Ahsoka hadn't fully considered, though in hindsight it was rather obvious, was that she wasn't very tall. When the platform leveled out from its downward slope away from the docked _Venator_ , she found that she was unable to see much of anything through the crowd of taller beings around her.

But she didn't need to see to find Ghes.

Ahsoka was very careful to avoid drawing attention to herself as she crossed the platform against the flow of the crowd. It might've seen ridiculous, putting all of this effort into sneaking around when half the troopers in the 501st had to know at least about what was going on between her and Ghes. After all, news and rumors tended to travel equally fast in the closed community that was the GAR. But there weren't many troopers out here. Clones she could trust, if not to keep silent amongst themselves, then at least not to say anything to other Jedi, or worse, civilians. Navy crewers were different, they had friends and family outside of the military who they drank with and talked to, and that had the potential to cause more trouble than if her and Ghes decided to start making out in front of the assembled Council.

Even with all the extra measures she was taking, it wasn't long Ahsoka found Ghes, half hidden amongst stacks of crates grouped haphazardly off to one side of the platform. It wasn't hard to guess why he was hiding, Ghes's armor was pretty conspicuous against the duracrete landscape of Coruscant. He noticed her a few seconds after she spotted him, and without the nudge in the Force she assumed he would need.

 _He's getting the hang of our bond, then_ , Ahsoka thought with a degree of satisfaction. It had taken longer than she'd hoped for Ghes to adjust to the bond that had been inadvertently created between them. Lacking the telepathic and empathic abilities of a Force-user, the bond hadn't seemed to him the extension and amplification of a natural sense like it did to Ahsoka. Without this frame of reference, it had been difficult for Ghes to interpret much of what his new sense of her was telling him. Assisting him with over coming this shortcoming had been focus of more than a few of their limited communiques over the past month. That he'd been able to pick her out of a crowd so easily without prompting was the best sign she'd seen so far that he was improving.

Ahsoka crossed what little ground remained between them as quickly as possible, momentarily forgetting her prior caution as she practically leaped into Ghes's waiting arms. Their desire to avoid scrutiny was not ignored for long though, and the two quickly shuffled further behind a stack of crates.

"What are you wearing?" Ghes said, stifling a laugh as he took the chance to look her over.

"What? You don't like my disguise?" Ahsoka responded with mock offense.

"Well it looks at least a size too big…"

He wasn't wrong about that, the jacket did seem a bit baggy around the shoulders, and the sleeves were definitely to long for her arms. Ahsoka didn't consider this to really be her fault though, the ship's laundry hadn't had much of a selection for her to choose from, and she wasn't that familiar with ho fatigues were supposed to fit in the first place.

"It worked." She said with a shrug.

Ghes peaked carefully around the crates out at the still moving crowd.

"Can't argue with that." He said, satisfied that no one was paying them any mind.

"So," Ahsoka said, pulling him back towards her. "where were we?"

Ghes smiled.

"Missed me then, did you Tano?"

"Just kiss me, stupid."

...

They didn't hang around on the platform for too long. Even hidden off to the side like they were, there was always the chance that someone might stumble upon them, like a quartermaster, or a dockhand, or even another couple. So, much as the two would have liked to linger and enjoy their reunion, they decided it would be more prudent to continue elsewhere. Preferably somewhere more private.

Luckily, Ghes was a little ahead of the game on that one, and he led her to another platform nearby where he had an airspeeder waiting for them. He held open the pilot's side door for her, but she declined with a wave and climbed in on the passenger's side instead, balling up her jacket and throwing it in the back as she did. Much as Ahsoka normally enjoyed flying, she was feeling worn out enough from the journey and last few weeks' worth of missions that she was more than willing to let Ghes deal with the headache of Coruscant traffic.

"Where'd you get this?" She asked once Ghes had climbed into the pilot's seat beside her and started punching in the security codes.

This definitely wasn't the same speeder they'd used last time they'd used last time they'd been together. For one, it was closed rather than open topped, and it was definitely bigger, but it was also too worn looking to be new.

"Grabbed it from the motor pool this morning." He said as he hit the ignition and the engines began to sin up. "I have an understanding with the troopers down there."

"I hope you're not doing anything to get those boys in trouble."

"Relax, a little missing paperwork never hurt anyone." Ghes joked. "Now where to?"

Ahsoka was a little hesitant to answer that question, if only because she knew Ghes wasn't going to like it, but, unfortunately, it had to be done.

"I'm really supposed to report back to the Temple…"

"Really?" Ghes groaned. "Do you _have_ to?"

"I just have to check the duty roster." She said. "Then we can go out and do something, or go back to your place, whichever."

"And what if you're supposed to be on duty?"

"Then I guess you'll just have to hang around the Temple till I'm done." She said with a sigh. "Don't worry, there's troopers around all the time, I'm sure nobody will say anything."

"Fine." Ghes relented, lifting the speeder off the platform and into traffic.

The Fleetyards weren't especially well positioned in relation to the other two major government centers on Coruscant, the Senate and Temple districts, mostly because warship maintenance benefitted from easy access to the planets heavy industry in a way debate and spiritual contemplation did not. This made the commute between these areas a long one, especially since traffic in the crowded skylanes was, as with every other problem in Galactic City, some of the worst in the entire galaxy. But at least it gave them time alone to talk, something Ahsoka suspected would continue to be at a premium in their relationship for a long time coming.

"So," Ghes said after he'd guided them into one of the automated lanes. "how has everything been with you and, you know…"

"Anakin?" Ahsoka assumed. "We haven't really talked about it at all. I guess I've kinda been avoiding the topic."

"Silently, Ahsoka debated whether or not she should tell Ghes about her _conversation_ with Padme. She still wasn't sure what had held her back from telling him right after it had happened, or why she hadn't in all the time since. Maybe it was that so much of what Padme had said kept coming back to eat at her and not wanting to saddle him with the same burden. In the end, she decided to keep quiet about it.

"Why," she continued. "has he said anything to you?"

"No." Ghes answered. "But I think he's been ignoring me."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well for one, all my orders seem to come in writing now." Ghes explained. "He never seems to be around when call in to give a report, and I'm pretty that I'm not welcome at strategy briefings anymore."

"Oh." Ahsoka said. "That's just how Anakin is. I'm sure he'll get over it eventually."

Ghes nodded acceptingly, but Ahsoka wasn't even sure _she_ believed that would be the case. Anakin was very… _passionate_ , and he could definitely hold a grudge.

"I did get an interesting message from Rex, though." Ghes continued.

"Really?" She said, interest piqued. "What was it about?"

"Not much." Ghes said casually. "Just a very long, very detailed list of everything he'd do to me if I do anything to hurt you."

"Oh." Ahsoka said, feeling her face flush.

She was surprised, to say the least. Rex hadn't seemed angry when she'd confided in him about her and Ghes. He hadn't even seemed that surprised by it, like he'd either already suspected or maybe even had already know. She'd never expected that he'd go out of his way to…

"Sorry." She said, though she was unsure why she felt compelled to.

"So, you are the one who told him, right?" Ghes asked.

"Yes." She answered. "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

"No, no. I just wanted to make sure." Ghes said, obviously a little embarrassed. "This might be a weird thing to ask, but were you to ever…"

It Ahsoka a moment to what it was he was asking, but when she did…

"What?!" She exclaimed, taken aback that he would even _think_ to ask that. "Me and Rex? No. No, no, no. Just, no."

She had known Rex for years, she'd still basically been a kid when they'd met. He was her best friend, it was almost like he was her _brother_. She had never thought of Rex like that, she wasn't even sure if she was capable of thinking of Rex like that.

"Why would you even ask that?!"

"Sorry, sorry." Ghes said, taking one hand off the steering yoke and raising it in mock surrender. "It's just, sometimes I hear rumors about troopers and Jedi…"

"Well me and Rex are _not_ like." Ahsoka insisted. "He's just a little protective of me sometimes."

"Alright." Ghes said. "Forget I asked."

Now _he_ was the one blushing, which was amusing to Ahsoka because he'd always tried to play the tough guy, even around her. But now he thought he'd really done something to piss her off and the façade was beginning to crack. What was probably worse for him, though, was that he really had pissed her off a little bit.

"You're not the jealous type, are you Ghes?" She said slyly.

"I said forget about it."

"Afraid someone's going to steal me away?"

"Ahsoka!" He yelled, a little shrilly, as if she'd struck a nerve. "Can we please just talk about something else."

"Fine." She said, rolling her eyes playfully. It probably wasn't fair to keep pushing at him, not when he clearly regretted what he said. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know." He responded, starting to regain his composure. "How about Zygerria?"

"I already told you everything about that one." She said with a shrug. "There were slavers, we got captured, we broke out and saved everyone, you were _there_ for that last part. There's nothing you don't know."

"I don't know." Ghes shrugged a little sheepishly. "Did they let you keep that dress?"

* * *

Ahsoka realized pretty quickly that Ghes had never seen the Jedi Temple before, at least not up close. This struck her as odd in a way that probably showed how little she'd ever really known about the outside world before the war. After all, Ghes had grown up in Galactic City, and the Temple was, at least in her mind, the center of Galactic City, so there was no way he'd could have lived on Coruscant for twenty years without having been there at least once. She knew they didn't exactly give tours, but there were certain areas of the gardens that were frequently open to the public, so why wouldn't anyone come, if only to marvel at something so grand? But Ghes hadn't ever visited the Temple, and he confessed to only ever knowing one or two people who had. It was something else for Ahsoka to add to the ways her outlook had shifted ever since she'd left the cloistered existence of a Jedi youngling.

Another thing that quickly became apparent was that Ghes was not impressed by what he was seeing. "Extravagant" was a word he'd used quite often, "wasteful" was another. Ahsoka probably shouldn't have been surprised, Ghes had never had many good things to say about any Jedi other than her and Anakin, and traditional Mandalorians did have a reputation for preferring a fair amount of austerity when it came to dwellings. He quieted down a little when they reached the actual dormitories, which were far simpler than the grand halls they'd been walking through, and therefore more to his liking. She did, however, grumble something under his breath about wanting to see where the masters lived that she decided to ignore.

Luckily, there didn't seem to be anyone around when they reached Ahsoka's unit, so she wouldn't have to worry about sneaking Ghes in. A "trooper" in any other part of the Temple was easy enough to explain, but the dormitories where a different story, especially a female unit.

"Here we are." Ahsoka said as she led Ghes into her room. "Home sweet home."

"And I thought my place was simple." Ghes said, taking off his helmet as he looked around a room that was just big enough to contain the bed and dresser that occupied it while still allowing a little space to move around in.

Ahsoka shrugged as she picked up the datapad she'd left on the dresser last time she'd been here. She agreed the room wasn't much, but she'd never needed much, and it had been a welcome change after years of sharing a living space with at least one other girl. Besides, she spent most of her time living aboard warships now anyways, so she was hardly ever here anymore.

"Just let me check this…" She began, waiting a few moments for the datapad to update its information before pulling up the duty roster. "And I am not on duty tonight _or_ tomorrow."

"Alright, then!" Ghes said like it was the first good news he'd heard all day. "Let's say we go out somewhere no one will recognize either of us and then you can sleep over?"

"Do you know a place like that?" Ahsoka asked skeptically.

"If I don't where my _beskar_?" Ghes joked. "Yeah, I might know a few, maybe even one where we won't get shot."

Ahsoka had to admit that sounded tempting, being able to go out and act like a couple somewhere that wasn't a warship or an active warzone, even if wherever they ended up being as seedy as she expected.

"Sure." She said finally. "Just let me grab some extra clothes."

"You know," Ghes began as she opened her dresser and started rummaging for what she needed. "if you wanted to you could start keeping a few things at my place. I have plenty of extra space, and then you wouldn't always have to come here…"

Before Ghes could finish, he was interrupted by a knock on the door that made them both freeze.

"Yes?" Ahsoka said wearily, standing up and closing the dresser as she turned towards the door.

Next to her, Ghes started backing towards the far wall and rested his hand subconsciously on his sidearm. Ahsoka had no idea how she was going to explain his presence in her quarters to whoever was on the other side of that door, and there was definitely no place for him to hide in here. Maybe it was somebody she'd be able to get rid of without opening the door?

"It's Barriss." The voice of the young Mirialan Jedi responded. "I saw you were back and I was wondering if you wished to eat together."

 _Stang, of all the bad times._

"No, thank you." Ahsoka said. "I'm not really hungry."

"Are you feeling ill?" Barriss asked. "I can fetch a healer."

"No, Barriss." Ahsoka insisted. "I'm fine."

"I'd feel better if you opened the door."

Ahsoka sighed in exasperation. So Barriss wasn't going to leave until she was satisfied she was healthy, then. And that probably wasn't going to be until she actually saw Ahsoka, which would be a little difficult to manage without her also seeing Ghes. Ahsoka looked over to where he was still standing against the far wall. He'd drawn his sidearm and was holding it at the ready.

 _Open the door and I'll stun her_ , she could hear him say in the back of her mind.

 _No!_ She mouthed as animatedly as possible and glaring at him.

He put the weapon away reluctantly.

"Ahsoka?" Barriss said again, sounding more concerned.

Ahsoka bit her lip and considered her options. Barriss wasn't going away, that was obvious, but it was equally obvious that there was no way for her to open the door without her seeing Ghes. She had no idea how her friend would react to finding an armored stranger in her room with her…

In the end Ahsoka panicked, and, without any plan or idea what she was doing, just opened the door, grabbed Barriss and pulled her inside before she knew what was happening.

"That wasn't really what I meant," Barriss said after staring dumbly at Ahsoka for a moment. "But…"

Ahsoka saw Barriss's eyes drift away from hers, only for a second, but still long enough for her to notice Ghes leaning up against the far wall, trying and failing to look casual. To her credit, Barris didn't freak out, she just stopped midsentence and leaned her head to get a better look at him, as if she needed to confirm to herself that she was indeed seeing what she thought she was.

"Ahsoka," She began hesitantly. "who's this?"

"This is Col. Marczak." Ahsoka answered, reaching for an explanation of his presence she thought Barriss would accept. "He's with the 501st. We were just going over some reports, and… I, um, needed to grab something from in here."

It wasn't a great excuse, Ahsoka knew, in fact it was pretty awful. Ghes was acutely aware of this, she could tell, but he played along, walking over to the two women and offering a hand to Barriss. She shook it, albeit hesitantly, and continued to stare at him.

"You're not a clone." Barriss said, a little dumfounded.

"So I've been told." Ghes responded flatly.

Despite how stressful this all was, Ahsoka couldn't help but be a little amused by the exchange, if only because she had had the same reaction the first time she'd met Ghes. Barriss had even spent quite a bit of time with a mostly non-clone medical unit, but she was still thrown by the sight of a non-clone in armor.

"You're obviously busy, so I'll just excuse myself." Barriss said hastily, backing toward the door. "Unless you would like to eat with us, colonel?"

"Of course," Ghes said, smiling. "I'd love to."

It took a fairly significant amount of her self-control for Ahsoka to not let the shock she felt show on her face. What could possibly have compelled Ghes to agree to that?

"Okay then…" Barriss said, as if she hadn't expected him to agree either. "Shall we go now?"

…

It went better than Ahsoka expected, at least initially.

Ghes rather serendipitously had been carrying most of his mission reports from the last month with him on the datapad he kept clipped to his belt when he wasn't in the field, so he was able to back up her hastily concocted story rather well once they'd sat down in the canteen. He even managed, much to Ahsoka's surprise, to have an actual conversation with Barriss. Granted, it wasn't much more than swapping stories about working with her, but it was still more than she'd expected.

Bariss had always been very reserved, and, much as she cared for him, even Ahsoka had to admit that Ghes was more of an _acquired taste_ , often very gruff and indelicate, especially when it came to " _Jettisse osik_ ", as he put it. He seemed to be measuring himself very well, though, and Ahsoka began to regret underestimating his ability to socialize.

Ahsoka didn't say much for most of the meal, instead focusing on Barriss, searching for any sign that she might suspect something about her and Ghes. And, as far as she could tell at least, there weren't any. No, it looked to Ahsoka like Barriss didn't suspect a thing, so she let her guard down a little and relaxed.

Ghes, who Ahsoka suspected was now just putting on a show, got up to take their plates away once they'd finished eating, leaving the two Jedi alone.

"So," Barriss began after Ghes had left. "are you going to tell what's going on with you and him?"

Ahsoka's heart jumped into her throat. Was Barriss serious? It looked like she was. How much did she suspect?

"I… don't know what you're talking about." Ahsoka said, deciding to play dumb.

"Don't so that." Barriss said flatly.

"Do what?" Ahsoka said innocently.

"I'm not stupid, Ahsoka." Barriss snapped, looking distinctly unamused with her. "I can tell there's something between you two. Even if I can't read him, which is something else you're going to explain to me, I know you well enough to recognize when you're behaving strangely."

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about." Ahsoka insisted. "Like I said, Ghes is with the 501st…"

Ahsoka let her sentence trail off as she realized to late the slip she'd made.

"Ghes?" Barriss said, raising an eyebrow.

"So we're on a first name basis, so what?" Ahsoka said defensively. "I don't call Rex "captain" all the time. Do you want to interrogate me about him to?"

"No," Barriss admitted. "but I know Rex, you've never even mentioned this man."

It was a fair point to make. Ahsoka may not talk to Barriss every day, but the two had always made a point of trying to keep up with what was happening in each other's lives. But she'd never said anything to her friend about Ghes, if only because she'd been so focused on managing the fallout from Anakin discovering her and Ghes's relationship. It hadn't seemed like that important an omission at the time, but now…

It was then that Ghes returned, still smiling, blissfully unaware of the turn Ahsoka and Barriss's conversation had taken.

"Commander Tano." He said, looking at his crono. "Remember we have to be at that briefing…"

"Drop it, Ghes." Ahsoka sighed. "She knows."

"So we're just telling everyone now?" Ghes said, sounding more than a little annoyed as he sat back down next to her. "Maybe we should just go find General Yoda while we're here."

"What?!" Ahsoka said. "I didn't tell her!"

"Well then how did she find out?"

"Gee, Ghes, I don't know." She said sarcastically. "Maybe it had something to do with your brilliant plan to have lunch with her!"

"I thought it would seem suspicious if I said no!"

"How?1" She asked. "How would that be suspicious?!"

Barriss, momentarily forgotten by the arguing couple, cleared her throat loudly.

"Ahsoka," She began once she'd regained their attention. "This is serious. The Jedi Code…"

"I know what the Code says." Ahsoka interjected. If she wasn't going to let Anakin lecture her right now, she definitely wasn't going to let Barriss. "It's just… it's complicated. Can you please just keep this to yourself?"

"I don't think I'm comfortable lying for you, Ahsoka." Barriss said. "Not about this."

"You don't have to lie." Ahsoka countered. "Just don't tell anybody. It's not like anyone's going to ask anyway."

"Ahsoka…"

Whatever Barriss had been about to say was interrupted by a loud beeping from Ghes's gauntlet accompanied by a blinking light. He glanced down at it briefly before tapping it and pulling his helmet on.

"Huh…" He said. "Did you tell Skywalker you were meeting me?"

"No." Ahsoka answered. "Why?"

"Because he wants us both at a briefing in fifteen minutes."

"Oh." Ahsoka said. Fifteen minutes? That was a little short notice. "Where?"

"The Temple ops center…" Ghes read off his HUD. "Weird. Do you know where that is?"

"Yes." Ahsoka said, standing up from the table. "We should probably get going if we're going to make it."

As Ghes stood to follow her, she turned back to Barriss.

"Please," She implored. "Just promise me you won't say anything until I've had time to explain."

"Fine." Barriss relented. "I won't say anything, not yet anyway."

"Thank you so much," Ahsoka called over her shoulder as she and Ghes began to leave. "I promise I'll be back soon."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

So, yeah, for everyone who doesn't follow me as an author and therefore didn't see _Pro Bono_ when I posted it as a standalone last night around the time I deleted the Part II preview, I'm finally back. Hooray!

Taking care of buisness first: Unfortunately, due to circumstances that where well within my control but it is nevertheless far too late for me to do anything about, I will be unable to maintain the weekly release schedule that I had for Part I for Part II. I'm sorry, but my progress just hasn't been where it would need to be for me to do that. Right now, I have chapter eleven ready to go, chapter twelve around half done, and then a two chapter gap that's completely empty until we get to the two chapters devoted to the _Wrong Jedi_ -arc (yeah, I know it's sad, but it still has to happen), then another half finished chapter, a two chapter gap, and the last two chapters of Part II (which are finished) that I'm not going to spoil but you can probably guess the content of. Because of this weird sort of half finished state where the finished parts are separated how they are, I'm going to be pulling back to monthly release schedule, so you're getting chapter ten now, you'll be getting chapter eleven on 26 June, and by then I should have twelve ready to go for 26 July and so on. This should hopefully give me the time to finish those missing chapters without having to constantly miss updates and to make up for the longer wait in between the chapters in this part are going to be, on average, longer than those in Part I. I also promise that if I somehow manage to catch up to the point where everthing's done by the late August-early September range I'll reevaluate the current plan and consider moving to a bi-weekly or weekly schedule.

There, now that that's out of the way, I can just ramble like I normally do. A lot has happened while I've been away, hasn't it? Episode IX finally has a title (still not confident that God himself could save the ST at this point, but I'm just cynical that way). They released another trailer for those new _TCW_ episodes they promised us in the wake of the _TLJ_ disaster, which I'd honestly thought were coming out sometime this Spring so I'm glad I get the chance to beat them to the punch when it comes to depicting the Siege of Mandalore. And finally, or at least the last thing I can think of right now, _The Mandalorian_ got a trailer, a show I was allowing myself to grow cautiously optomistic about until I saw Dave Filoni, the great destroyer of all things Mando, was involved. So, yeah, I missed quite a bit just when it comes to Star Wars, right? I'd apologize for that too, but military obligation and serving my country and all that, so I think I had a pretty good reason to go dark.

As far as this chapter goes, it's another one of those where a lot happens; resolution to that promise Padme made Anakin at the end of Part I to have a talk with Ahsoka about her newly found love life, Ghes kind of making an ass of himself by asking questions he shouldn't, and now Barriss knows about the two lovers because why not! Seriously though, maybe it's just because I write from outside the usual fan pairings for Ahsoka (Rex, Ani, Lux), but I do feel at least some obligation to provide a sort of rebuke when it comes to them(at least for the two that aren't weird. I mean come on, Anakin's the closest thing she has to a father figure and he's _married!)._ When it comes to Rex, I don't know, it's just kind of hard for me to accept the idea that someone like Rex who was in a sort of supplementary mentor position for the kid straight out of the Temple the early season Ahsoka was would get romantically involved with that kid he'd been watching grow up and helping to raise. The point I'm trying to make is; they're friends, close friends, probably brother-sister close, and I personally can't recall ever having the desire to sleep with my sister, so it doesn't seem likely to me that they would hook up. As for Lux though... oh boy, are we going to have a lot to talk about with that guy over the next few months during the new and improved Onderan arc I've been writing.

But back to a topic that hopefully won't involve me antagonizing shippers anymore than I already have, Barriss!

I, much like the writers for this show, don't really know what to do with Bariss. I mean, she'd here so that she and Ghes will know who each other are during the _Wrong Jedi_ stuff, but other than that there really isn't much reason to use her any where else. She really is one of the character's that was screwed over most in the transition from the old Clone Wars multimedia project stuff and _TCW_ , not that she did a ton there except feature as a main character in the Star Wars version of _M*A*S*H_ and then get crushed by an AT-TE on Felucia during Order 66, but at least that was something beyond a completely unexplained heel turn done simply because they didn't have any other character they could use to pull that twist. Pretty good episodes otherwise, though. Not my favorites obviously because of how much of a downer they are, but still. Anyway, if I end up trying to do anything deeper with Barriss, maybe try to better explain why she did what she did, it'll most likely be in Part III. Until then, I don't know, I guess you can just assume that knowing that her best friend was shacking up with some schmuck in blatant violation of the Jedi Code helped move along the whole "Jedi have become corrupted" train of thought that eventually led to her engaging in a convoluted terrorism plot. Or maybe it was all Palpatine's fault somehow. Hell if I know.

That's going to be it from me for this month (except I'm finally going to get around to updating my author bio, so be on the lookout for that tomorrow), as always; follow and favorite if you haven't already, and feel free to leave a review or PM me to tell me how you feel!


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

The briefing, much to Ahsoka's dismay, had already began by the time she and Ghes had reached the Temple ops center.

It was Anakin's fault, really. Regardless of how he'd known she was with Ghes, whether he'd just assumed they'd be together or had some other way of knowing, he hadn't given them nearly enough warning to get here. If they'd left the Temple, as had been the plan before Barriss had interrupted, or if they'd never come in the first place like Ghes had wanted, they never would have made it at all. Ahsoka didn't want to believe that Anakin would do something so passive aggressive as to wait on telling her and Ghes about the briefing so they'd be late, if only because _active_ aggressive was more his style, but she couldn't deny that it felt a little like that was the case.

She'd planned on confronting her master about this while rushing to the briefing, and possibly even having the second confrontation with him over her relationship with Ghes she suspected may be inevitable. That is, she'd planned all of this before she realized who else was attending the briefing.

"Padawan Tano, Colonel Marczak," Master Windu said, raising an eyebrow. "how kind of you to join us."

The expression, and the idle suspicion behind it, was mimicked by Master Yoda, who turned in his usual ponderous manner away from the central holotable to face the pair. Obi Wan seemed less interested, more used to the idea of Ahsoka and Ghes's "friendship", even if he'd only ever seen them together once. Anakin just looked irritated, as if he hadn't been expecting them to walk in together.

"My apologies, masters." Ahsoka said, bowing toward the three Council members deferentially.

She willed herself not to let the embarrassment she felt show on her face as she moved to take her place beside Anakin.

Ghes, looking bemused by the whole situation in a way Ahsoka found profoundly irritating, walked to a spot behind her and Anakin and leaned casually up against a bank of consoles without saying anything.

"All right then…" Obi Wan said after another moment passed in awkward silence. "I believe we were in the middle of something?"

"Yes…" Master Windu said, thankfully turning his attention back to the data hanging in the air over the table. "As _most_ of you already know, earlier today the Council received a plea for assistance from an anti-Separatist militia group on the planet Onderon."

 _Oh no_ , Ahsoka thought, _please don't let this be who I think it is._

"The request was made to us by Lux Bontieri," Master Windu continued. "formerly of the Separatist Senate, now one of the leaders of this group."

 _Stang_.

"Padawan Tano, know this Bontieri you do, yes?" Master Yoda asked.

"Yes, master." She answered, no longer certain she could continue to hide her embarrassment, in the Force or on her face. "I do."

Lux was… well, Lux was complicated, especially recently. Ahsoka would like to be able to count him as a friend, no matter how much unlike one he seemed to act at times. There had even been a time, back when they'd first met, that Ahsoka had possessed _stronger_ feelings for the young man, but a lot had changed in her life since then. And a lot had changed for Lux as well, he'd gone from the son of a prominent senator to, apparently, a guerilla leader. She wasn't sure what his feelings towards her where, though, not since what had happened on Carlac.

"Bontieri?" Ghes said, stepping off the consoles and up next to Anakin and Ahsoka. "Wasn't he the one who tried to crash the Sundari peace talks?"

Ghes didn't _really_ know about her and Lux, not that there was much to know. Their first encounter had never seemed worth mentioning, not to Ghes at least, and she'd only given him a basic description of their little adventure on Carlac. Unfortunately, even that breif outline had included the Death Watch's involvement. Needless to say, that fact had given Ghes a very… _negative_ impression of Lux.

"Yes, he was." Master Windu confirmed. "Your point being, colonel?"

"My point is that the he walked into a high profile diplomatic summit to accuse the ex-Jedi head-of-state of the CIS of corruption and murder with no plan for how to avoid being killed himself." Ghes said matter-of-factly with a hint of amusement. "The kid's obviously not the sharpest knife in the set. How do you know this "militia" isn't just him and a handful of his drinking buddies?"

"We have ample evidence to support Mr. Bontieri's claims, colonel." Obi Wan answered. "And, more to the point, the Council has already decided to grant his request."

"So you're going to pass this along to Special Operations Brigade, then?" Ghes asked.

"No." Master Windu said. "As the request was made to the Council directly, Generals Kenobi and Skywalker will be handling the mission."

Ghes scoffed.

"No offense, generals, but this is a job for ARC troopers…"

"They're right, Gh… _colonel_." Ahsoka interjected, only just stopping herself from making the same mistake she had earlier. "Sending special forces won't get us anywhere. Lux doesn't trust the Republic, but he does trust m… _the_ _Jedi_."

"Which is while you'll _both_ be accompanying us." Anakin said, not event trying to hide his distaste for the idea.

"So you won't send ARCs, but you'll send me?" Ghes asked.

" _Personality_ aside, colonel, your record does speak for itself." Obi Wan admitted with only a hint of the annoyance she could feel from him in the Force. "And, if Commander Tano's reports are to be believed, you two already have a good working relationship. I wouldn't ask if I didn't believe you'd be a valuable asset to the team."

That irritated Anakin most of all, Ahsoka could tell, that Obi Wan was choosing to bring Ghes along, probably over his objection.

"And here I was starting to think that you all just like having me around." Ghes said, smirking. "When do we ship out?"

"Four hours." Obi Wan said. "This is all happening on a short time scale, so we already have Capitan Rex arranging for transport and supplies."

"Rex is coming to?" Ghes said.

"Why wouldn't he be, colonel?" Obi Wan said with a hint of a smile. "He _is_ ARC trained, after all."

"It should go without saying that none of this can be linked back to the Jedi Order." Master Windu said. "Regardless of what our colleagues in intelligence make a habit of, _we_ are not in the business of overthrowing governments. That means no overt use of lightsabers or the Force while in the public eye, and no Republic issue body armor."

While that last part might not have been directed exclusively at Ghes, Anakin and Obi Wan both wore a few pieces of armor and Ahsoka had heard stories that Obi Wan had once worn the whole set during the battle of Muunillist, Master Windu was looking squarely at Ghes when he said it.

"Don't worry, general." Ghes reassured him. "I'm sure I can pull something less conspicuous out of the back of my closet."

It was a lame joke, but Ahsoka would have been lying if she said she wasn't tempted to laugh just a little bit.

"Good." Master Windu continued. "As Master Kenobi said, there isn't much time to prepare, so I suggest that you take what time you do have to gather whatever you're going to need and make your way over to the Fleetyards. Dismissed."

Ahsoka silently let Ghes know to hang back until everyone else had left. They'd all seen the two walk in together, she'd rather they not see them leave together as well. Masters Windu and Yoda were the first to leave, probably heading off to take care of some other pressing matter that required the Council's attention. Obi Wan left soon after, nodding towards the three who remained while reminding them of the short time left to prepare for their mission. That left only Anakin, who didn't so much as glance at the door, instead fixing his gaze clearly on Ahsoka.

"Colonel," He said harshly, not looking away from his Padawan. "if you could give us the room."

"No." Ahsoka said firmly, stepping around Anakin to stand next to Ghes. "Whatever you have to say to me, you can say to Ghes."

She didn't enjoy having to be so defiant towards her master, but if this was about what she thought it was, then it was as much Ghes's business as it was hers.

"Ahsoka…" Anakin started.

"No." She repeated. "Either he stays, or we both go."

Anakin sighed.

"Fine…" He relented. "I wanted to… apologize for how judgmental I've been about _this._ "

He made a hand-waving gesture towards the both of them before continuing.

"It has been brought to my attention that I don't have any room to criticize when it comes to doing things the Jedi Order would… _disapprove_ of, and that, even if I disagree with your decision, I shouldn't let that disagreement ruin our relationship."

It wasn't too hard for Ahsoka to guess who had convinced Anakin of all this, or who had brow-beaten him into coming up with the awkward, forced sounding apology in the first place. She'd have to decide whether or not to thank Padme later.

"Thank you." Ahsoka said, doing her best to sound gracious. "That… that means a lot to me. To both of us."

"Yeah." Ghes agreed at her silent urging. "Thank you, general."

The look Anakin gave Ghes left no doubt in Ahsoka's mind that he still hated him. She decided that was… _acceptable_ , at least for now. She knew better than to expect too much from her master all at once. Anakin was an extraordinarily stubborn man, but Ahsoka was confident that he'd come around eventually.

"A bit of advice, though." Anakin said, trying to force a little humor into his voice. "You two shouldn't, make a habit of showing up places together like that. Someone's going to start suspecting something."

Ahsoka cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Maybe we'd have had time to think about that if someone had given us more than a fifteen-minute warning to be here." She said accusingly.

"That wasn't my fault!" Anakin insisted. "Obi Wan's the one running point on this, he set everything up the minute the Council made the decision. You knew as soon as I did."

Ahsoka wasn't sure she believed that, but she decided to accept the excuse anyway. She wasn't about to start another argument, not so soon after they'd made peace, and definitely not right before they embarked on what could end up being a fairly long mission.

"Alright," She said, taking Ghes's arm. "We should probably get going. We both have gear we need to pack, and I'm sure you want to see Padme before you leave…"

"Yeah," Anakin said, suddenly seeming more awkward than she'd ever seen him. "It's awful, that I have to leave again so soon."

"I know." Ahsoka said sympathetically. It wasn't fair to him or Padme that he'd been on Coruscant less than a day before having to leave again. At least Ahsoka was bringing Ghes with her this time. "Go. We'll meet you at the ship."

Anakin smiled for a moment despite himself before stiffening up again.

"Ahsoka." He said with a nod towards her before the last bit of warmth drained from his voice as he forced himself to give Ghes the same courtesy. " _Colonel_."

* * *

It was interesting, Ahsoka thought, how important a role _Nu_ -class shuttles seemed to have always played in her life. It had been a _Nu_ -class that had first brought her to meet her master on Christophsis what seemed like a lifetime ago, and it had been a cargo variant which had first taken her aboard _Retaliation_ to serve with Ghes and his men, who themselves mostly used the vessels rather than the more ubiquitous "larties". Now she found herself aboard one of the shuttles yet again, strapped securely into the troop bay alongside four of her closest friends and a metric ton of anti-droid ordnance graciously provided by the Republic to their new Onderonian allies.

To her left were Anakin and Rex, neither of whom had had much to say for most of the nearly ten-hour journey from Coruscant. Not that this was unusual, Rex rarely said anything more than he had reason to while on mission, and brooding had long been one of Anakin's primary pastimes. Across from her sat Obi Wan, off to the left towards the exit, and Ghes, directly in front of her. There was an empty seat separating the two, partly because Ghes had wanted to sit directly across from her, and partly, she suspected, because Obi Wan didn't want to sit next to him.

Ahsoka didn't know much about Obi Wan's history with Mandalore beyond the very basics, it just wasn't something he discussed often, at least not with her. She found it telling, though, that he had been visibly perturbed when Ghes had shown up for the flight wearing full _beskar'gam_. Something else she'd gathered was that Obi Wan more _tolerated_ Ghes than anything else, and that he was only here because Obi Wan did honestly think that he would be more an asset to the mission than a hindrance.

Ghes, for his part, was asleep, and had been for a while now. She wasn't sure if anybody else had realized it. Strapped down as he was, there wasn't much to indicate that he was asleep other than the chin of his helmet resting on his chest. Ahsoka didn't know how he'd managed to sleep for what had to be close to nine hours now, especially when he'd expressed more dissatisfaction with the details of their mission than anyone else. From the transport, to the ordinance they were bringing, to how they'd be inserting onto the planet, Ghes hadn't liked any of it. And, While Ahsoka would admit he had a point about not bringing any real heavy ordnance, most of his other complaints had seemed rather pointless. He had been the one to make them though, and yet he was the only one that seemed able to sleep steadily through most of the flight. But maybe he'd just been tired.

She woke him with a mental nudge as she began to feel the familiar shudder of atmospheric re-entry.

"What?" He said groggily as he jerked awake, helmet cracking against the hull behind him with a metallic thud.

"You awake, colonel?" Ahsoka joked.

Even though his helmet, she could feel the annoyed look Ghes was giving her. He didn't like being called out like that, she knew, but that was part of why she'd done it. At least Rex seemed to find the exchange amusing.

"Target in fifteen mike." The pilot's voice came over the intercom. "Prep for drop."

Almost in unison, the five occupants of the troop bay unlatched their restraints and stood, though Ghes did so a little more awkwardly than the rest of them. He had a lot of extra equipment attached to webbing slung across his chest along with a custom blaster rifle, enough that it made him sag slightly forward with the weight of it all. Ahsoka stifled a laugh as she moved to help him attach a jump pack to his back, a bit awkwardly as it was clearly meant to be mounted on standard trooper armor.

"There." She said, tugging on the pack a few times to ensure it was secured.

"Thanks." Ghes said quietly as he turned to face her.

The jump pack balanced him out a little, making him no longer appear as if he was in danger of falling flat on his face. Ahsoka didn't entirely understand why he'd chosen to overburden himself like this, but she suspected Ghes would say something about wanting to be prepared for whatever happened. Subconsciously, her hand drifted to the grip of a heavy blaster pistol Ghes had insisted she take from him "Just in case".

"This is a bad idea." Ghes said aloud, hopping a few times as he adjusted his gear.

"And your concern has been noted, colonel." Obi Wan said, sounding more than a little annoyed. "But I believe it's a little too late to call off the mission."

"I wasn't talking about the mission… that time." Ghes responded. "Right now, I'm wondering why the plan is to jump from _below_ two-hundred meters. Why not jump with chutes from low orbit, or just land if you wanted to skim the canopy anyway?"

"Because there's nowhere _to_ land." Obi Wan explained, exacerbated by Ghes's continued. "For the very same reason that we are not parachuting into a jungle."

"Jumped into worse…" Ghes mumbled.

For her part, Ahsoka was glad they weren't parachuting into Onderon. She had only ever done that sort of high altitude insertion once before, on Umabara with Ghes, and it wasn't something she looked forward to doing again. She didn't have a problem with jumping, per se, but the high-alt equipment was heavy, and having a chute took away most of the control she was used to having during a jump. Ghes, she knew, just wasn't very fond of jetpacks.

"Since when do you complain so much, Marczak?" Anakin said derisively.

"Since you started directly involving me in your crazy schemes." Ghes shot back.

"Please, colonel." Obi Wan said, a hint of humor sneaking into his voice. "This is hardly like one of General Skywalker's "schemes". The ship is still in one piece."

Ahsoka laughed and Anakin just looked even more aggravated than he already had. It hadn't been his idea to bring Ghes along, that much was obvious, and he'd seemed rather against it, in fact. But this wasn't Anakin's operation, so it hadn't been his decision to make.

"Starting final approach." The pilot said. "Drop zone in one mike."

The troop bay was bathed in faint red light as the normal illumination panels gave way to the operational signal lights. Rex moved past Ahsoka and Ghes toward the rear of the compartment, prepping the pallets of ordnance follow them out the door. At the front of the bay, the ramp opened slowly, welcoming a rush of damp night air and revealing the vast jungle rushing beneath them.

"Ahsoka! Colonel!" Obi Wan yelled over the roar of the wind. "You two jump first!"

Ahsoka nodded and made her way toward the ramp along with Ghes. Grasping the bulkhead for support, she looked back at Anakin, Obi Wan, and Rex, the latter of whom was now walking the pallets forward toward the nose of the shuttle. Obi Wan's eyes remained fixed on the light above the entrance to the troop bay, waiting…

The red glow turned to green and Obi Wan gave them the signal to jump. With a quick glance to Ghes, Ahsoka took a step forward, grabbed hold of the edge of the ramp's frame and used a combination of the Force and her own strength to propel herself out into thin air. She used the Force twice on her descent, first to punch through the canopy, and again to slow herself to a soft landing on the forest floor.

Immediately, she turned skyward to look for the glow of Ghes's jets, but instead saw only a dark shape flailing wildly as it crashed noisily through the canopy. Ahsoka reacted on instinct, grabbing the shape in the Force and slowing it enough to be sure Ghes wouldn't be too badly injured on contact.

"Uhh…" He groaned as he rolled himself over onto his back.

"You okay, Ghes." Ahsoka asked, kneeling down by his side and looking him over.

At a glance, his armor was scuffed and covered in mud along the front, but otherwise he seemed fine.

" _Shabla_ Republic issue…" Ghes swore, hitting the jetpacks quick release and shimmying it out from under him before tossing it aside. "Damn thing never fired. Should've run a diagnostic."

Ahsoka smiled and shook her head. Ghes was fine.

She heard the others land a few moments later, maybe a hundred meters further along their flight path, and a group of inelegant thuds from further away she assumed were their supplies.

 _See_ , She thought, _no problems_. Ghes had been worried about nothing.

Ahsoka heard it all at once, a snapped twig, a low growl, and the switching of a weapon safety. She turned just in time to see the beast and its rider step out of the brush, worn but functional blaster trained on her.

Ghes reacted quickly, grasping the rifle still slung across his chest and pointing it up at their assailant. But there were more riders now, emerging from the jungle around them, all similarly dressed and armed.

And everything clicked.

"Wait!" Ahsoka said, positioning herself between Ghes and the first rider, who she now saw was a dark skinned human woman. "My name's Ahsoka Tano. We were sent by the Jedi council, we're here to help."

For a tense moment, the woman kept her weapon up, and Ahsoka began to question whether she'd called this correctly, whether this was the militia they'd come in search of… until, slowly, the woman lowered her rifle.

"I'm Steela Gerrera." The female rider said grimly. "You should come with us."

It took around two hours for Ahsoka and Ghes, as well as Anakin, Obi Wan, and Rex once their "escorts" joined together, to reach the militia encampment walking alongside the beast riders. Ahsoka could tell Ghes and Rex didn't like being led like this, both keeping their weapons close at hand and eyeing their new "allies" suspiciously. She didn't blame either of them, even though she'd yet to feel any ill intent from any of the militia, there was just something disconcerting about being escorted by more than a dozen armed riders when you weren't sure where you were going.

First light had just begun breaking over the trees when the party finally stepped out into the clearing in which the ramshackle base was located. There were only a few buildings that appeared permanent, hunting lodges, Ahsoka suspected, with the rest of the space around them being crowded with large tents and makeshift pens for all manner of beasts of burden. What stood out the most was the smell of the place, of animals living and dead, the latter being cooked, dried, or tanned as was appropriate. This all combined to make the place appear more like a refugee camp than a military one.

There was no real welcome committee waiting for them, only a slowly growing crowd of vaguely curious and well-armed on lookers who appeared haphazardly from out of tents as word of their arrival spread through the camp. Ahsoka scanned the crowd, looking for the one familiar face she knew had to be hidden amongst it. She saw the effect he had on the crowd before she saw him, those further towards the back shuffling out of the way as a man who barely came up to most of their shoulders pushed his way past them.

Up until the point when he emerged at the front of the crowd, Ahsoka was unsure how she would react to Lux Bontieri again. On the one hand they were still supposed to be friends, but, on the other hand, last time they'd met he'd stubbornly refused her help and nearly gotten them both killed. What she wasn't prepared for, though, was _his_ reaction.

"Don't move!" Lux yelled as he drew his blaster, much to the confusion of everyone around him.

"Lux," Ahsoka said, staring wearily at the weapon which appeared to be trained on her. "What are you doing?"

"The Mando!" Lux yelled, a look of pure fear in his eyes as he pointed his blaster past her at Ghes, standing less than a meter behind her. "Why did you bring him here?!"

Ahsoka had been worried something like this might happen. Lux's falling out with the Death Watch once he'd realized just what _terrorist_ meant had been… dramatic, and he was still clearly shaken by it.

"Lux…" She started, before Ghes pushed past her to confront Bontieri.

"You have a problem with me, Bontieri?" He said, slinging his rifle over his shoulder and resting his hand casually on his sidearm.

"Don't come any closer!" Lux said, hands visually shaking. "I know what you are! You're a Death Watch assassin sent here to kill me!"

That did it. Despite what many beings, including the Sundari-based New Mandalore government, seemed to believe, not all Mandalorian warriors were a part of the Death Watch. In fact, Ghes's family had been decimated by the violent Mando splinter group after refusing to join them. For Lux to accuse him of being a part of that…

"What did you just say to me?" Ghes growled, getting close enough to Lux that the shorter man's blaster tapped against his breastplate as his hands continued to shake.

Despite his fear, Lux stared defiantly into the black void of Ghes's visor.

"I said," He started with as much false bravado as he could muster. "that you're D…"

Lux never finished his sentence, as a split second later he was on the ground, unconscious. Ahsoka knew what happened, if only because Ghes had showed her the same move. He'd grabbed Lux's blaster with his left, pushing the barrel away from his body and twisting the weapon out of Lux's hands before smashing his nose with a right cross. The result was a broken nose for Lux and Ghes standing over him in possession of his blaster.

What came next happened almost as quickly. Seeing Lux go down, the militia in the crowd who were armed trained their weapons on Ghes, who responded by drawing his sidearm and holding both it and Lux's weapon on the two nearest rebels. The resulting standoff wouldn't have ended well if Anakin and Obi Wan hadn't chosen this moment to jump into the middle of the situation.

"Stop!" Anakin said forcefully as the two Jedi stood in between Ghes and the militia.

"Yes," Kenobi said. "Col. Marczak is an officer in the Grand Army and he is with us! He means you no harm."

The Jedi's sudden intercession, while it may have prevented blasterfire, seemed to do little to reassure the skittish rebels of Ghes's friendliness.

"Right Colonel?" Obi Wan prompted. "You're not going to hurt anyone?"

"So long as nobody else has a problem with me being _Mando'ad_." Ghes growled, nudging Lux's groaning, crumpled form with his boot.

That seemed to get the message across, and most backed down pretty quickly. A more cynical part of Ahsoka took this to mean that Lux wasn't very popular with his new-found comrades, though one or two seemed more reluctant to let Ghes's assault of the man slide.

With the standoff defused, Anakin, Obi Wan, and Rex wasted no time trying to move past what well could have been a fatal blow to the Republic's relationship with the Onderonian rebels, not to mention a bloodbath. While the two Jedi went off to inspect the camp and Rex brought a group of rebels to retrieve the supply crates they'd inserted with, Ahsoka pulled Ghes aside. She was… disappointed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ahsoka said, quiet but still angry. She slapped him on the side of the helmet. "And take that thing off!"

"All right, all right…" He said, pulling the helmet off and tucking it under his arm. "I don't see why I'm in trouble, the kid drew on me first!"

"So you almost _killed_ him?!" She snapped, knowing for a fact that it was about more than Lux pulling a blaster.

"I barely tapped him!" Ghes scoffed dismissively. "It's pretty obvious the pampered little snot's never been hit before."

"We're supposed to be helping these people." Ahsoka countered. "And you knocking out one of their leaders is _beyond_ counterproductive."

"Why do you care about this kid anyway?" Ghes asked, gesturing with his helmet off toward were he'd left Lux. "The little _di'kut_ practically kidnapped you after you saved his useless _shebs_ and almost got you both killed by Vizla's thugs! I should have killed him on principle for doing either of those things to you, but now you're defending him!"

"The 'kid' is my friend" Ahsoka said, more than a little fed up with Ghes's dismissive attitude towards Lux. "And he _saved_ me from the Death Watch."

That wasn't strictly true. Lux had only "saved" her in the sense that he'd helped her escape by piloting the speeder while she'd warded off pursuit. Up until that point, he'd done pretty much nothing except dig them deeper and deeper in to trouble with every action he took. But Ghes didn't really _need_ to know that detail, now, did he?

"How'd that work?" Ghes snapped derisively before continuing in an insulting parody of Lux's voice. "Hello Mr. Vizla, if you'd be ever so kind as to not kill this Jedi I've practically gift wrapped for you, she's my friend, you see!"

"Of course not!" She shot back. "He lied about who I was."

Ghes's eye narrowed.

"Who'd you say you were, then?" He demanded, clearly unwilling to drop this.

Ahsoka sighed. She really had not wanted to tell Ghes about her own poorly conceived ruse to conceal her identity, but it seemed she had no choice.

"He said I was his… betrothed." She admitted reluctantly.

The change in Ghes was obvious, in the Force as well as his eyes.

"I'll kill him." He said, making it sound more a promise than a threat.

Before Ghes could storm off to carry out Lux's death sentence, Ahsoka grabbed him along the top of his breastplate and held him in place as much with the Force as with her own strength.

"No, you're not." She said forcefully. "Listen to me; Lux is just a friend. I'm with you and that's how it's going to stay so long as you stop acting like a jealous child."

"You think that's what this is about?!" Ghes shouted, pushing her away and taking a step back. "Me being jealous over, what? An act you two put on for Vizla?"

"Yes!" Ahsoka yelled, getting right back in his face. "Otherwise you would have just killed Lux when he came at you!"

What was Ghes on about? She knew him and what he was capable of better than anyone else. If he'd wanted Lux dead for any reason other than petty jealousy, he would have done it in any of a dozen ways the moment he'd come within arm's reach. She should have known something like this was bound to happen after he'd questioned her about Rex…

"Do you know why I hate the Death Watch so much?" Ghes asked, letting his rage knee-jerk rage subside. "Why my father's generation fought a _war_ to stop them?"

"Yes." She answered, trying to calm herself as well. "You told me. They attacked your clan for trying to stay neutral."

"Well, there's more to it than just that." He continued, folding his arms across his chest and turning away from her. "Vizla's men, they're not like me, Ahsoka, or like other _Mando'ade_. For every idiot kid seduced by the promise of a resurgent Mandalorian Empire, there's a dozen more who just want to pillage their way across the galaxy."

"Ghes…" She said, reaching out to grab his shoulder only for him to pull away.

"What happened when you presented yourself as Bontieri's "betrothed"?" Ghes asked over his shoulder. "Did they treat you as an honored guest? Or even as an equal?"

"No." Ahsoka admitted. "They treated me like a slave. Along with all the other women they'd kidnapped."

"Exactly." Ghes said, turning back toward her. "Because that's what the Death Watch does. _Aruettisse_ , foreigners, they don't matter to them. They're chattel, slaves, tools to be exploited in service of Vizla's twisted idea of a greater Mando race. Do you understand what could have happened to you? What _would've_ happened to you if you couldn't handle yourself?"

It didn't take much imagination for Ahsoka to understand what Ghes was saying. She'd seen Vizla, seen how he exploited beings who couldn't defend themselves, seen how ready he was to slaughter innocents to get what he wanted. And the truth was she hadn't been able to stop him. She and Lux had only survived because of R2's timely intervention. Ahsoka had come within a hairs breath of death and Ghes knew it. That was what scared him more than anything else, almost losing her while he was half a galaxy away, and not even knowing about it until days afterwards.

"He didn't want to put me in danger, you know." Ahsoka said after a long silence. "Lux. He wanted me to stay on the ship, but I didn't listen."

"You never do." Ghes said, just the hint of a smile touching his lips. "But you still never should have been there in the first place. And you wouldn't have been if it wasn't for him."

Ahsoka sighed.

"I know." She said, taking one of Ghes's hands in hers. "But please, just give Lux a chance. For me."

"All right." He relented, though he did his best to seem unhappy about it. "I won't kill the lucky little _chakaar_. For you."

"Thank you." She said, reaching up and giving him a peck on the cheek. "That means a lot to me."

"Doesn't mean I won't break his legs if he so much as looks at you the wrong way." Ghes said, only half in jest. "I have to have _some_ principles."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. For all his tough talk, she knew that, deep down, Ghes was really just a big softie. Well, not really, but he had a soft spot for _her_ , and that was good enough as far as she was concerned.

"Don't worry." She said, glancing over her shoulder at where Lux was having his bloodied face treated by the woman they'd met earlier, Steela. There was something about the way the two looked at each other… "I don't think that's going to be a problem."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Before we start I just want to say, this month was pretty hectic on my end. You see, I got a new job at the end of last month only to find out that the company had been bought out, which in the security field is a whole nother thing so far as retraining and integration goes. I've also been working on the paperwork for a second job on weekends at a local casino, which has to be run through my state's gaming commission. Then, on top of all that, I had to sit around in the woods for two weeks because, despite me being away for close to six months between this year and last, I still had to go with my unit on AT (annual training). So, long story short, I haven't been getting nearly as much writing done as I'd like to and it looks like monthly rather than weekly updates are going to be a thing for the foreseeable future. I apologize for the inconvenience (cause I know just how much this story means to all of you and that you must surely be lying awake at night thinking about what's going to happen next in the lives our intrepid young heroine and her... Ghes) and assure you that all attempts are being made on my end to at least finish Part II before I am inevitably distracted and/or disposed by some circumstance of life/Middle Eastern War.

Now that that annoying "real-world" stuff is out of the way, let's get down to business. And, by business, I of course mean the reviews that have been posted since my lat update:

8th, I'm going to start by thanking you for your compliment/support because _Pro Bono_ was a one-shot (which everyone reading this should read if they haven't already) and the next Kad story is likely to be some time coming. As always, your comments are appreciated.

The other review this month (actually for the story this is attached to) comes from Dae, and is going to require a little bit more from me in order to respond properly. I like your suggestion, it'd present the opportunity for some good character moments and actually give Barriss a real role in the story as a character father than a plot device. Unfortunately, though, I don't think that's the direction I'm going to go in. When I said I didn't know what to do with Barriss, I meant I didn't know what to do to fix her character within the confines of her role in the story laid out by the series. Now, I have my own suspicions (which I won't get into here) about the motivation Filoni had that led to the whole _Wrong Jedi_ arc and Ahsoka's exit from the Jedi Order, but for me, as far as what I'm doing and the story I want to tell, there are some compelling reasons to keep it despite the obvious flaw that is Bariss's part in events. Rest assured though, I already have a plan for Barriss to reappear in Part III that should at least provide some closure for the disaster that was her "character arc" in _TCW_. Now, as to whether of not this is an AU, the answer is... technically? I'm actually pretty adverse to changing things that happen "on screen" i.e. in a movie/episode of a TV show/(sometimes)book, even when changing something would probably be best for my story (for an example, see the Onderon arc in _Marczak_ , which is basically just cliff notes versions of the episodes "but also Ghes is there"). As you'll hopefully see in the next few chapters, I've loosened up on this, but I still want everything to follow the general flow of how it's "supposed" to be. What this means is that, while little things off screen and in the background might change, the larger story of Episodes I-VI remains unchanged. After all, this isn't a story about the fate of the galaxy, it's the story of Ahsoka and Ghes's life together and how they survive and are affected by those galaxy-defining events. This still leaves me a lot of room to do my own thing, and I have more of a Legends mindset that ignores _TCW_ Season 6 so don't expect anything to be too predictable either.

There, done with review responses. On to this month's chapter!

So does everyone know how I feel about Lux Bontieri yet?

You do?

Good, so we can just get right into why I don't like the closest thing Ahsoka has to a canonical love interest, and I can assure you it has nothing to do with his position as a possible romantic rival to a character I created specifically as a love interest for everyone's favorite Togruta Jedi (sorry, Shaak-Ti). Honestly, and I recognize that I'm probably going to catch a lot of flak for this if the right people catch wind of it, but I just think he's an awful character. Let's start with the _concept_ for his character, he's Padme but a few years younger and a dude. That's it, that's why he exists, to be a direct parallel to Padme for Ahsoka's Anakin. And I get it, that sort of parallel is attractive, at least in concept, but they just made the absolute most useless, annoying character they possibly could have (and it doesn't hurt that the episode he was introduced in was annoying for how noble it tried to portray Separatists as despite them _canonically_ being a bunch of corporate stooges). Think about it, what did Lux Bontieri do? His mom gets killed by the cartoonishly corrupt government he supports, so he decides to accuse COUNT DOOKU of her murder in an extremely public way (yes, I know it was a ploy to get Dooku's location, but that required him getting captured and how the hell was he supposed to know Ahsoka would even be there, let alone that she would be ordered/allowed by Padme to violate diplomatic protocol to save him from his own stupidity), then he joins the FREAKING DEATH WATCH, the most obviously psychotic terrorists in the galaxy, without seeming to understand that they're terrorists or what that entails, and, after Ahsoka (and R2) saves him FOR THE SECOND TIME IN LESS THAN A WEEK he still has the nerve to be all high and mighty about the Republic and LITERALLY SHOOTS HER IN THE BACK. Then there's the whole Onderon rebellion, which is probably the only worthwhile thing he's ever been involved in and gave him his own love interest. Of course this was just so we could have one scene were Ahsoka was jealous, followed three episodes of Steela demonstrating that she was the only competent leader person on Onderon before she was unceremoniously killed off at the last minute so that Lux could be single again. This, of course, didn't matter because he and Ahsoka never got together and _Inferno Squad_ revealed that he ended up with a failed marriage to some nameless "Imperial" (whatever that means) anyway, so the only effects of Steela's death were an unnecessary "sad" ending and her brother going completely bat-shit insane and becoming a terrorist. Lux, of course, being the bastion of intelligence and good decisions he is, joined up with Saw's band of "Partisans" (despite the not terrorist Alliance being an option for resisting the Empire) and manipulated his daughter into feeding him information that he handed over to the remnants of Saw's wacko fanatics who used it to try and BOMB A GROUP OF SCHOOLCHILDREN (an attack for which he isn't punished along with the rest of the partisans, thank you Iden Versio). Real stand up chap, wouldn't you say?

In the end, Lux Bontieri is really nothing more than a fairly generic pretty boy political dissident type who, in actuality, has only a vague idea what it is he's dissenting from and a world view so astoundingly far detached from reality that it's a wonder he can even function, let alone hold an position of authority (though I suppose it helps to have a wealthy and important mother). He's that spoiled, rich UCal student in a Che Guevara t-shirt constantly trying to get you to sign a petition for some flavor of the month cause. But hey, I guess that plays well with West Coast college girls (incidentally, the farthest thing I can think of from Ahsoka Tano)...

Wow, I've had that one bottled up for a while, haven't I? Probably shouldn't have said that, if only because hating on Lux Bontieri is even more likely to alienate certain people around here than expressing my burning hatred for the sequel trilogy. Whatever, 'the die has been cast', as they say. I promise that, despite my obvious bias against him, nothing terrible is going to happen to Lux just because I'm under no canon obligation to keep him alive. I do not, however, promise to stop giving him shit for being a rich kid in over his head. Yes, I'm bitter he didn't die at the end of _Inferno Squad_ , what of it?

So that's it for this month, as always thanks for taking the time to read and don't forget to leave a review telling me how wrong I am for hating on Rule 63 Padme, or just follow and favorite if you enjoyed.


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

The pang of blasterfire rang out sporadically across the makeshift firing range Ghes and Rex had instructed the militia to carve into the Ondaronian jungle.

Out of the seemingly unstructured chaos of it all, a single pattern could be recognized; the shots always came in pairs. Sometimes this meant two in quick succession, sometimes two spaced out by a few seconds, but it was always two.

This was one of the first lessons the two career soldiers had forced upon their new trainees; controlled shots were taken in pairs, no exceptions.

For something that was, on its face, so simple, it proved a surprisingly hard concept for many of them to grasp. Most of the militia's recruits had grown up handling blasters and didn't consider what Rex termed "basic marksmanship training" worth their time. They could already shoot, after all, and why relearn something you already knew?

That wasn't the point, of course, as Ghes and Rex had gone to exhausting lengths to explain. The real point of training like this was firing disciplined, aimed shots quickly, eventually under stress, but Ghes had said that would come later.

So, yes, these basics were important, even if the people they were training could already shoot.

Well, most of them anyway…

"One miss, high." Ahsoka said, observing the results of the last round of shots on the crude, scrap metal silhouette that sat in the brush a hundred-fifty meters away through a pair of macrobinoculars.

Lux grimaced.

"I hit the head, though." He said, carefully laying the DC-15 on the ground in front of him. "That's good, right?"

Ahsoka wasn't sure why she'd been paired with Lux for this, especially considering that she was the only of the Republic advisors participating in the training event. Anakin and Obi Wan weren't even at the range, and Ghes and Rex were both observing as instructors, while she was on the firing line, sharing one of the decees with Lux.

"Headshots are only good if you can repeat them, Bontieri." Ghes's voice crackled out of Lux's headset. "Stick to the body until you learn to hit the broad end of a nerf."

"What?" Lux stammered, looking around in confusion. "How did he…"

"Your mic's open." Ghes said again through the headset. " _Di'kut_."

Ahsoka looked over her shoulder at where Ghes sat perched in a tree toward the center of his half of the firing line. He was scanning the line of targets with his own binocs, but she shot him an annoyed look anyway. He'd know.

"Sorry." Ahsoka said, waiting for Lux to stop fidgeting with his headset so she could hand him the binocs. "Ghes really is a n… a _likeable_ guy when you get to know him."

"I'm sure." Lux mumbled, grabbing the binocs and pushing the decee towards her. "So, you and him?"

It wasn't any great mystery to Ahsoka how Lux had figured out about her and Ghes. Since the initial… unpleasantness of their arrival, Ghes had been very unsubtly affectionate towards her whenever he knew Obi Wan wasn't looking and Lux was. For someone who wasn't jealous, he seemed very determined to make sure Lux knew exactly what the score was.

"Yes." She said, shouldering the heavy rifle and making a few adjustments to its optic. "For about a month and a half now."

"Not exactly the "Jedi way", is it?" Lux said, propping himself up on his elbows to look through the binocs.

"And joining an insurgency isn't very senatorial." Ahsoka countered as she settled into her firing position. "Seems like we've both strayed a little from our given paths."

Shooting was, at least in Ahsoka's mind, a lot like meditation. Both required her to clear her mind, pushing out all distractions. Next, she breathed deeply, in and out, in and out. The difference between this and meditation was she held on that final exhale for one, two, three…

" _Kandossi_ , commander!" Ghes called out after he saw the two shots tightly grouped in the top left of the target's "torso". "Droid or organic, the _chakaar_ 's dead."

Ahsoka allowed herself a smug smile as she lowered the weapon. She considered herself a pretty good shot for a Jedi, at least at longer ranges where skill started to matter as much as instinct.

"Wait," Lux said, having already dropped the binocs before she'd even finished firing. "A month and a half? Wasn't that before…"

"Yes." She said, holding out the rifle for him to take. "By a few weeks."

"Oh." He said, gingerly taking the weapon and once again laying it on the ground in front of him. "Is that why he hates me so much?"

"Partly." Ahsoka admitted with a shrug as she grabbed the binocs from where Lux had dropped them. "You pulling a blaster and accusing him of being a Death Watch assassin didn't help."

"I suppose it wouldn't." Lux said sheepishly. "I am sorry about that. I'm not sure what came over me. When I saw that armor, I just… panicked."

That wasn't too difficult for Ahsoka to understand. For most beings in the galaxy, particularly those who'd fought against them, Mandalorian _beskar'gam_ was a sight to be feared. She'd never experienced that reaction, of course, if only because Phase-I armor had shared the iconic T-visor with its Mandalorian predecessor. But Lux's experience was more… _limited_.

"As long as it doesn't happen again." Ahsoka teased. "I don't know if I'll be able to hold him back next time."

From his impression in the Force, it seemed Lux took that a little too seriously.

"You going to shoot?" Ahsoka said, glancing down at the rifle still sitting on the ground in front of him.

"Yes…" Lux said nervously, eyeing the decee cautiously for a moment before finally grabbing it from the dirt.

Ahsoka knew all too well that Lux was at least competent with a blaster pistol, but he handled the rifle awkwardly. The DC-15 was a long, heavy weapon, attributes that limited it's popularity even with the clone troopers who'd been training with it for most of their lives. It was a distinctly military blaster, something almost alien to anyone other than professional soldiers and mercenaries. The only person she knew who fit both categories was Ghes, and even he considered the weapon, at best, situational.

As Lux shouldered the rifle, his lack of confidence was almost as apparent as his lack of familiarity. This had to be the ninth or tenth round of firing, and he wasn't getting much better. Ghes calling him out probably hadn't helped.

"Group Aurek," Rex voice called from Lux's headset. "fire at will."

The shots from the rifles around Ahsoka were more consistent this time, a string of steady, two-round bursts of semi-automatic fire. All except Lux, who rushed his shots.

"Two miss." Ahsoka said, grimacing at the results. "One high, one right."

"Damn." Lux swore, letting the barrel of the decee sag into the dirt.

"Bontieri!" Ghes shouted over the com channel, startling the younger man. "Get that barrel out of the dirt!"

A red-faced Lux complied quickly, raising the barrel up before taking the weapon and once again laying it on its side in front of him. If he'd been embarrassed when Ghes had called him out before, he was even more so now.

"All lanes hold your fire." Ghes said with a heavy sigh. "I'm on the move."

As a chorus of voices came over the com acknowledging the warning, Ahsoka rolled over to see Ghes clambering down from his perch and jogging down the firing line towards her and Lux. He was aggravated and more than a little annoyed with Lux, she could tell, though she wasn't entirely sure why. Ghes had shown quite clearly that he had very low expectations of the younger man.

"Alright, Bontieri," Ghes said as he took a knee between her and Lux. "what's the deficiency here?"

"I… I don't know." Lux said, still embarrassed and more than a little frustrated.

"Hmm…" Ghes hummed as he thought for a moment, considering the target downrange with the enhanced vision his helmet provided him. "What do you think, _cyar'ika_?"

 _Cyar'ika_ , it was a _mando'a_ term that had become Ghes's pet name for her in the time since they'd arrived on Onderon. He'd translated for her when she'd asked as "sweetheart", except without the sarcastic implications that the term had in basic. Though Ahsoka suspected he'd started using it as part of the "show" he was putting on for Lux's benefit, she'd have been lying if she said she didn't like it. Besides, Lux didn't speak _mando'a_ , and she doubted Ghes had translated it for him.

"I think it's mostly a confidenc thing." Ahsoka answered after mulling over the question in her mind for a few moments. "The decee is a heavy weapon with a lot of kick, that can be a bit intimidating."

Ghes nodded thoughtfully and Lux turned away to hide his reddening face. Surprisingly, Ghes seemed to pick upon this.

"Oh, don't be too embarrassed, Bontieiri." He said, grabbing the rifle off the ground and wiping spots of dirt off the paneling with his thumb. "It's perfectly normal to be nervous your first time handling a real weapon. Hell, I was a bit skittish first time I fired a heavy blaster. Of course, I was nine…"

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. Ghes couldn't even try and help Lux without being condescending, could he? This petty, immature streak from him was starting to get on her nerves.

"Well, since seeing a skinny little Jedi handle this weapons platform apparently isn't enough of a confidence booster," Ghes continued as good naturedly as he could while maintaining the same patronizing tone. "I'll just have to demonstrate how it works in the hands of one of us _ordinary_ humans."

He didn't move into the prone position that Ahsoka, Lux, and everyone else on the line had been firing from, instead staying up on one knee as he confidently shouldered the rifle and lined t up on the target she and Lux had been firing at.

"Are you observing, commander?" Ghes asked, once again all business as he adjusted the optic, something Lux had to forgotten to do before the last round of firing.

"I am." Ahsoka answered, bringing the binocs back up to her eyes. She briefly considered suggesting that Lux should be the one observing, but quickly realized that that wouldn't help. This point of the demonstration was the _form_ , not the result.

Ghes fired three times, twice in rapid succession and then a half second's break as he adjusted his aim for the third.

"Three on target." Ahsoka reported as she lowered the binocs and turned towards Ghes and Lux. "Two torso, one head."

"There." Ghes said smugly as he lowered the rifle. "See, Bonitieri? Nothing to it but practice and a little confidence."

Lux didn't seem especially reassured by the demonstration of Ghes's marksmanship, or the patronizing attitude that had accompanied it.

"I thought you said not to aim for the head?" He snarked bitterly, picking himself up off his stomach and sitting back on his haunches so he was more or less even with Ghes's chest.

"I told _you_ not to aim for the head." Ghes shot back, still facing downrange, probably admiring his handiwork. " _I_ hit what I put in my crosshairs. Besides, the triple tap is more of an adv…."

Ghes's voicd trailed off into silence as he shifted his gaze along the treeline at the end of the range. A moment later, he stiffened, fixed on a point behind the line of targets. Ahsoka followed his line of sight as best she could with his eyes still hidden behind his helmet. At the same time as she saw a brief glint of sunlight reflecting off polished metal, Ghes let loose with the decee, tracing a line across fifty meters of jungle before the blaster fell silent once again.

"What did you do that for?!" Lux screamed, having dropped back down onto his stomach once Ghes had started tracking his target sideways.

"Shut up, kid." Ghes snapped, still looking through the blaster's optic at the sot where'd he'd stopped firing. "Did you see that, Rex?"

"I do now." The captain's voice cracked over the com. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Looks like." Ghes responded grimly. "You have eyes on, Ahsoka?"

She'd had the binocs back up before he'd even asked, zooming in on the area where Ghes was still aiming the decee. It didn't take her long to notice the large, black flattened sphere sitting in a tangle of underbrush, a wisp of smoke rising slowly from a fire burning near its heart.

"You see it?" Ghes asked again.

"Yes." She answered, grip tightening on the binocs as she put the pieces together in her mind.

"See what?" Lux asked angrily, frustrated at being left out of the loop. "What was he shooting at? What's going on?"

"Trouble."

* * *

"A probe droid." Obi Wan said as he looked over the armored bulb "head" of the droid with its four dangling arms, mostly intact except for the shattered photoreceptor and burned out interior. "And you're certain there was only one?"

"As much as I can be." Ghes said, looking down at the wrecked droid with his thumbs hooked casually through his belt, calm outer appearance belying how on edge the probe's discovery had put him.

While, as usual, he was in no hurry to admit it, Ahsoka could tell that he was just as worried about their little rebel training center being discovered as anyone else, and for much the same reason.

The fact of the matter was that none of the Republic advisors, Ahsoka included, believed that the rag tag group of dissidents were ready to take on a droid army, certainly not if the Separtists choose to launch an all out attack. There just hadn't been enough time to teach anything more than the very basics. And what worried Ahsoka most of all was how little many of the militia seemed to understand this.

"I say let the droids come?" Saw Guerrera, Steela's brother, said with a wicked look in his eyes, mashing his palm with his fist. "That's what you've been training us for, after all, isn't it?"

Of the three who had positioned themselves as the leaders of this little rebellion, Saw was by far the most outspoken, most impulsive, and, by extension, the most popular among his comrades. It wasn't hard to see why that was the case, not when his only competitors were his more reserved, calculated sister and Lux, who seemed to have come to his position almost entirely through his late mother's popularity, since most of the others saw him as little more than a spoiled rich kid playing revolutionary. This went doubly for Saw, and probably had something to do with why he seemed to weirdly respect Ghes more than the other advisors.

So far, the feeling wasn't mutual.

"Don't be stupid, kid." Ghes said with more than a little irritation in his voice. "None of you are ready to take a Sep company in a straight fight, not with armor support, at least."

"You taught us how to fight tanks!" Saw insited. "And destroyers! There's nothing they can through at us that we're not prepared for!"

Ghes let out an exacerbated sigh. He'd _disagreed_ with some of the exercises Anakin and Obi Wan had wanted to teach.

"They taught you _tricks_." He said. "If you want to run a hundred meters head on across open ground at an assault tank or a destroyer, be my guest, but you're not going to accomplish anything except getting yourselves killed."

"While Col. Marczak may not be very… _diplomatic,_ he does make a fair point." Obi Wan said wearily. "What we've taught you won't do much good in a pitched battle. Our best option is to break down camp and move to a more secure location were we can continue to prepare unmolested."

"That could take _weeks_!" Saw fumed. "And we're sick of waiting! We need to start taking the fight to Rash and his cronies now!"

"It's going to be pretty hard for you to "free" anything if you're all dead." Ghes shot back angrily.

"I agree with Saw." Lux chimed in, much to everyone's surprise, even Guerrera's. _Especially_ Guerrera's.

"What?" Saw said dumbfoundedly as he looked back over his shoulder at Lux.

"I said I agree with you." Lux repeated with more confidence. "We're never going to accomplish anything hiding in the jungle. We need to start fighting back."

"I'm glad you two are finding common ground." Obi Wan said, his increasing frustration obvious in his voice. "But the fact of the matter remains."

"Forgive me for interrupting, master." Ahsoka said deferentially as an idea began to form in her mind. "But, since we know the droids are coming, why don't we just lay an ambush for them?"

It seemed the obvious question to ask, or at least it did to her. After all, the point of contention seemed to be whether or not they could take on a droid attack force in a direct confrontation, so why not avoid that fight altogether and hit them when they weren't expecting it?

"Colonel, captain," Obi Wan said after a considering the idea for a moment. "is that feasible?"

"With the force we have right now?" Ghes said, crossing his arms across his chest and looking skyward as he did the calculations in his head. "Probably. But we can't do it here. Not even a droid brain is di'kutla enough to fall for that."

"We'd have to catch them en route," Rex continued, picking up on Ghes's line of thinking. "while they're still in marching formation."

"Our scouts know this jungle better than anyone." Steela Guerrera said, speaking for the first time since the meeting had started. "There are only a few trails wide enough for a large group to use. I can have sentries watching all of them by the end of the day."

"Droids won't bother with trails if they have armor." Rex said, shaking his head. "They'll use the main roads as far as they can and then cut as straight a path as possible through the jungle."

"That just makes it easier, then." Ahsoka said. "All we need to figure out is where they enter and we can set up anywhere we want along their path."

"Ms. Guerrera," Obi Wan asked. "do you think your scouts can accomplish that?"

"Shouldn't be too difficult." Steela answered. "Not if they're just going to crash their way through like you said."

"They will." Rex reassured her. "Droids have a very straight forward way of thinking."

"Once we have an idea were they're coming from I'll take a team to survey a good location to set up." Ghes said. "Until then I'll go over some basic ambush tactics so we're not walking in to this completely unprepared."

"Good." Obi Wan said with a note of finality. "It's decided then; Ms. Gerrera, go brief your scouts. Commander Tano and Captain Rex will assist Colonel Marczak with the preparations. Mr. Gerrera and Mr. Bontieri, you may participate in the preparations if you'd like, but I would advise all three of you to consider what course of action you wish take to take."

"No matter what happens, this location is still compromised." Anakin continued. "The Seps won't stop with one attack. As long as they have the resources, they'll keep coming."

The three militia leaders exchanged a brief look and a series of quick nods before Saw stepped forward.

"With your permission, generals," He began, doing his best to be more respectful than he had been before. "We'd like to move into the city."

"You all agree on this?" Obi Wan asked, a little skeptical.

"It's like Saw said before." Steela said. "We need to start bringing the fight to Rash if we're ever going to have a hope of liberating Onderon."

The two older Jedi exchanged a look of their own, though it did not betray much of their thoughts one way or the other.

"I will need to discuss that further with General Skywalker, of course." Obi Wan said. "But, should this operation go well, I see no reason why that shouldn't be our next step."

* * *

"We need to talk about Lux."

"I'm pretty sure we already did." Ghes responded, his helmet's external audio set so low as to be barely audible above the ambient noise of the jungle around them.

"Well we need to again." Ahsoka shot back, matching his volume and trusting his audion receptors to pick up on her voice as well as her naturally superior hearing did his. "Because you obviously weren't listening the first time."

Less than a meter from her, Ghes shifted almost inperceptively beneath the leaf covered camouflage netting he wore draped over his armor like a cloak. They'd been in this position for while now, exactly how long Ahsoka wasn't sure, but it had to be getting close to an hour, at the far end of the ambush line relative to the direction the droid column was reported to be approaching from. At the other end of the line, farthest away from them and closest to the approaching droids, were Anakin and Obi Wan, since the two senior Jedi were least likely to be spotted by their quarry and were limited in their ability to take part in the fighting by the Council's orders anyway. The rest of their force, around forty of the militia members deemed most competent by Ghes and Rex under the later's supervision were strung out along a roughly two-hundred meter line as straight and evenly as the over and concealment provided by the terrain made practical in between the two end points. According to the reports offered by Steela's scouts, this should allow them to engage the droids along the entire length of their column once Ghes caught sight of the lead element and gave the signal.

Hopefully it wouldn't be too much longer before that happened.

"I was listening." Ghes insisted. "I promised I wouldn't kill, which I haven't, so I don't see what we need to talk about."

"What happened to giving him a chance like you promised me you would?"

"I didn't say that." Ghes corrected. " _You_ said I should give him a chance, _I_ said I wouldn't kill him."

"Really?" Ahsoka said flatly. She'd have been tempted to call him out, if not for the fact that she'd used pretty much the same excuse for not doing what she'd been told more than a few times. But that didn't make it any less irritating.

She sighed.

"You could at least stop picking on him."

"I'm not… Okay, maybe I have been a little hard on the kid." Ghes admitted. "But it's not…"

"And would you stop calling him "kid"!" She added, cutting him off sharply. "Lux is the same age as me!"

"It's not about his age." Ghes insisted. "It's about him being a spoiled little politician trying to play soldier!"

"I'm sorry not everyone had a Mando father to turn them into a supercommando like you did, Ghes." She shot back mockingly. "I'm sorry Lux is just a regular guy trying to fight for his planet instead of just a mercenary!"

"Oh really, little miss high and mighty Jedi Knight?" Ghes hissed bitterly. "The Republic's not exactly paying me extra to sweat my _shebs_ off in this _shabla_ jungle teaching a bunch of _di'kutla_ farmers which way to point a blaster. I'm here because _osik_ like this seems to be the only way I'm ever going to get to spend any time with you."

"Don't try to make this about me." She snapped.

"I'm not!" Ghes said, then, with a sigh, shifted again so that he was looking at her rather than down his rifle's sight. "It's just, we've been here, what? Three days? And this is already the longest we've been together since Umbara."

"I know." She said. "But it's not like we didn't know that's how this was going to be going in."

"Doesn't make it any easier," Ghes pointed out.

"No," Ahsoka agreed. "and I guess neither does spending all the time we are together arguing."

This was frustrating. On the one hand, this hostility between Ghes and Lux had to end. It wasn't doing their mission any favors and it was aggravating to Ahsoka on a personal level because, while she'd already resignered herself to being unable to do anything about Anakin's bull-headed resentment of Ghes, she would have preferred for everyone to just get along. On the other hand, Ghes did have a point about how little time they'd been able to spend together. She wasn't naïve enough to believe that Ghes and Lux would be able to work out whatever was causing the hostility between them alone, but maybe she could afford to back off for at least a little while.

"Ahsoka?" Ghes asked after she'd been silent for a few minutes.

"Sorry." Ahsoka said with as heavy a sigh as she could manage at this volume. "I was just thinking, I don't want to fight about this anymore right now. Let's just talk about something else."

"Probably a good idea." Ghes agreed, giving off a noticeable sense of relief in the Force. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know…" She began, reaching for anything that came to mind. "The other day at the Temple, before Barriss interrupted, it sounded like you were abut to ask me something?"

"Oh, yeah." Ghes said, remembering. "That wasn't anything important. Just a stupid idea I had."

"Really?" She asked. "Because it kind of sounded like you were asking me to move in with you."

"I know that would never work." Ghes responded. "I just figured I'd, you know, give you your own access code and you could keep some of your stuff there, and I guess it'd give you a place to hide out if you ever needed to get away from the general and I'm not around."

"I… I think I'd like that." Ahsoka said. It did sound nice, having a place she could be alone. Technically, her dorm in the Temple was supposed to be that place, but, as with so much else in the Jedi Order, that came with some caveats.

"Just don't go trying to redecorated on me." Ghes joked. "It took me forever to get everything the way I like it."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

"And here I was already buying furniture."

"I have furniture."

 _Now, isn't this better than arguing?_ Ahsoka thought as she laughed quietly to herself.

"No, Ghes." She said. "You have _a_ couch, _a_ chair, and _a_ table."

"Which is furniture." He shot back. "What? Do the Jedi offer a course on internal decorating or something?"

"No." She said, working over her next verbal jab in her mid before Ghes said something that instantly ended the conversation.

"Go for Marczak." He said coldly, switching back to his "on mission" mode.

"What is it?" Ahsoka asked into the silence as Ghes was listening to whoever had been trying to contact him.

"Say again, general." Ghes said, tapping a button on his gauntlet to route the response through his helmet's external audio.

"I said we're hearing heavy repulsor vehicles coming through the forest." Anakin's voice came hissing softly over the com channel. "Maybe two hundred meters out, maybe closer."

"Roger." Ghes confirmed. "Let us know when you make visual contact."

"Hold on…" Anakin's voice came again accompanied by the muffled rustling of undergrowth, presumably him shifting positions. "Obi Wan says he can see lead the same tank."

 _Are they on course?_ Ahsoka mouthed and Ghes repeated the question over the com.

"Obi Wan says they're a little north of where they should be." Anakin relayed. "But not far enough that it should be a problem."

Ahsoka felt the little knot of tension that had been building while Ghes had been on the comm with Anakin begin to fade. That was the one thing that could have screwed the entire plan. Sure, droids were predictable, but the jungle wasn't. The Seps could have run into a terrain feature, like a marsh or a recent rockslide, that hadn't been on the maps and that the scouts hadn't known about, something that wouldn't cause repulsor vehicles any trouble but that infantry wouldn't be able to cross. Maybe something that'd force the droids to alter course enough to unwittingly avoid the ambush lying in wait for them. Sure, it wasn't especially likely, but they'd been unlucky enough times before for her to be a little worried.

"You copy all that, Rex?" Ghes asked over the com.

"Roger, colonel." He answered. "Passing word down the line now. We'll be waiting on your signal."

"Roger." Ghes confirmed before clicking off the com channel and turning back to Ahsoka. "You ready to go, _cyar'ika_?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." She said, hand moving to the holstered blaster pistol at her waist and fiddling with the retention strap.

She was thinking about how effective the weapon was going to be at what she guessed was going to be at least a hundred meters when Ghes stuck the butt of his rifle out towards her.

"Take it." He said when she didn't immediately realize what he wanted her to do.

"You sure you're not going to need this?" She asked, though she complied anyway.

"I need to get something ready and it'll be easier with two hands." He explained, grabbing something off his belt and rolling back onto his stomach.

Accepting Ghes's explanation, Ahsoka shouldered the rifle and aimed it toward roughly the same point he'd been watching since they'd been out here. Though it was significantly shorter and about two-thirds the weight of a decee, it was still clearly a heavy blaster, and Ashoka found it easier to shift closer to Ghes and brace the barrel against the same exposed root of a nearby tree he'd been using. There was an optic on the weapon, but she remembered that it required Ghes's HUD to work properly, so she flipped up the backup sights and sighted through those instead.

Though she'd never fired the rifle before, she'd handled it a few times when Ghes had been trying to teach her about the intricacies of blaster mechanics, since he'd essentially built this one himself. None of the concepts had been particularly diificult for her to grasp, but she still preferred working on engines, computers, and droids. Less chance of something literally blowing up in her face.

It wasn't more than a few minutes before Ahsoka began to hear the hum of heavy repulsors and the cracking of trees being bent or broken by the durasteel plated bulk of Separatist AATs. It wasn't too much longer after that that she first caught sight of the lead vehicle, the standard light brown paintjob providing poor camouflage against the darker colors of the surrounding jungle.

"That the command vehicle up front?" Ghes asked, finally finished with whatever he'd been working on.

"Yeah." Ahsoka confirmed, spying the skeletal form of a OOM commander droid poking out of the vehicle's turret.

"This is what I love about fighting droids." He continued with a chuckle. "So stupid."

Ghes pushed himself up off the ground and assumed a kneeling position next to her with his right arm stretched out towards the oncoming droid convoy, what looked to Ahsoka like three tanks and at least a company of B1 droids on foot.

"Ghes!" Ahsoka hissed as loud as she dared. "What are you doing?! They're going to see you!"

"Just a few more meters…" Ghes muttered under his breath, seemingly ignoring her.

Ashoka watched as the lead tank stopped less than a hundred meters away and the droid commander looked first down at his turret, then directly at their position.

"Ghes!" She yelled again, less concerned about making noise now that they'd apparently been spotted. She trained her sights on the exposed commander's torso and thumbed off the safety, not that taking the droid out would do much to stop the tank from obliterating them.

The AAT's hull rotated slowly to face them, but the turret was quicker.

"There it is." Ghes growled as the barrel of the heavy laser cannon leveled on them.

Ahsoka heard the _whoosh_ and felt the heat of the backwash through her cloak as the rocket leaped away from the launcher on Ghes's wrist, sidewinding through the air for forty meters before leveling out along a flight path that brought it into the turret ring just under the gun mantlet. The resulting fireball inside the tank cleaved the turret from the hull, sending the charred hunk of durasteel crashing upward through the canopy as the jungle around the now leaderless droid force erupted in blasterfire.

Ashoka began adding to the deluge of fire a moment later, thumbing the selector lever on Ghes's rifle down another notch to automatic and sending a stream of red bolts screaming down towards the droids, still standing parade straight in formation rather than scattering for cover like any organic soldier with half a brain would have.

"Three to five second bursts!" Ghes yelled over the noise of the firefight as he dropped back to the dirt next to her. "Don't break my blaster!"

"I know, Ghes!" She snapped in between bursts. Maybe he'd gotten a little too in the whole military instructor part of their mission.

"Sorry." Ghes replied sheepishly, realizing what he'd done. He pulled a power pack out of his bandolier and laid it on the ground for her. "Another pack when you need it."

"Thanks." Ahsoka said, smiling when she glanced down at the indicator and realized it was almost dry. She fired her last burst, dropped the drained pack, and slammed the new one home. "Any idea how many are left?"

"Hold on." Ghes said, peaking his head up a little higher over the root system they were using as cover and holding his hand to the side of his helmet. "You want to give me a sitrep, Rex?"

"We're hitting 'em hard, colonel." Rex called over the comm Ghes was still routing through his external speakers. "But I don't know how we're going to knock out those other two tanks!"

As if to emphasize Rex's point, a shot from one of the vehicle's heavy laser cannons shattered a tree close to Ahsoka and Ghes's position, sending splinters of burning wood raining down around them.

"See if you can get some droid poppers under them, take out their repulsors." Ghes replied coolly, bringing himself back up on one knee. "And try to give us some cover, we're going to flank left."

"Roger, we'll shift right." Rex said. "Does that mean you have more of those rockets?"

"Negative, we'll have to figure something else out." Ghes said, clicking off the comm before turning to Ahsoka and holding up his hands. "Rifle."

"Really?" Ahsoka said, pulling the weapons back in towards her body, rolling on to her side and tossing it the short distance between them. "You brought how many kilos of gear and you only brought one rocket?"

"Hey," Ghes shot back, shouldering his rifle, switching back to semi and firing two rounds downrange. "laser guided, anti-armor, smart rockets like that are two thousand credits a pop! I can't _afford_ to carry more than one! All I have left is unguided frag and HE."

"Improvise it is then." She unclasped her cloak and dropped it on the ground next to her, it was liable to get caught on something while they were running.

"Always seems to work out for you and the general." Ghes joked, having the same idea she did and dropping the camouflage netting he'd been wearing over his armor. "Ready?"

Ahsoka drew her blaster pistol, took a deep breath to steady herself, and nodded.

Ghes took the lead, stepping carefully over the root system they'd been sheltering behind and took off at a crouched run roughly perpendicular to the direction the convoy had been travelling in before the ambush. It wasn't very difficult for her to keep up with Ghes, surefooted enough but significantly slower than her even when he wasn't weighed down by his armor, and, after the first meters, he gestured toward the point they were headed for and waved her forward.

He dropped down into the shallow stream that had managed to cut enough of a depression for them to take cover in shortly after she did, breathing hard through his helmets filters while he held his rifle tightly against his chest.

"Colonel?" It was Obi Wan's voice that came over Ghes's com this time. "What's going on? Do you need our assistance?"

"Of all the…" Ghes muttered, the strain of their dash still evident in his voice. "Do you have blasters?"

"No…"

"Then unless you want start throwing rocks, general!" He snapped and closed the com channel. He looked towards Ahsoka as she cocked an eyebrow at him. "What? I'm not the one who said no lightsabers!"

Ahsoka rolled her eyes and dismissed the stress fueled outburst, though she wasn't sure if Obi Wan would do the same.

"So…, do have any ideas yet or…?"

"I'm working on it." He said, rolling onto his side and peeking over the top of the bank towards the rear of the remaining droids and tanks.

"Well whatever it is we're going to do, we'd better do it quick." She said as a heavy laser cannon boomed and two rebels disappeared from the Force.

The loss of their commander and the initial shock of the ambush had put the droids on the back foot, but even with most of their infantry support gone, the AATs could still do a lot of damage now that their crews were regaining their bearings.

As Ahsoka watched the two remaining tanks pound away almost blindly at the jungle, a burst of blue light appeared under the one on the left, at what had been the rear of the convoy, and the vehicle sank slowly to the ground as its repulsors failed.

"And there's our opening." Ghes said, reaching behind him and pulling a magnetic charge off his belt, which he held out to her. "Think you can get this on the reactor housing up under the turret?"

Ahsoka bit her lip as she looked toward the immobilized tank. She'd have to cross a lot of ground, but there was plenty of cover, and they hadn't been taking any fire since they'd changed positions…

"I can." She said finally, grabbing the detonator and hefting her blaster pistol. "You going to cover me?"

"I'll be right behind you." He confirmed, replacing his blaster's power pack.

"Try and keep up this time." Ahsoka said with a smirk as she stood up out of the streambed and began bounding her way towards her target, cover to cover, with Ghes following a few meters behind her, staying low.

The droids had to have either lost track of them when'd they'd left their original position or just forgotten about them entirely, because they went unnoticed long enough to reach a fallen tree less then thirty meters behind the two AATs, now the only part of the convoy left standing after the last few droids fell to rebel blasterfire.

Ahsoka looked to Ghes, who jerked his head toward the immobile tank and patted the stock of his rifle. She nodded, then vaulted over the charred and pockmarked trunk, creeping the remaining distance to the tank at a crouch while Ghes popped up and braced his rifle against the tree to cover her approach.

Charge in hand, she searched the looming rear hull of the armored beast. There should be a maintenance hatch just under the…

"Hey!" Cried the shrill voice of a B1 droid from above her.

She looked up to see the tank commander leaning around the open hatch, sidearm in hand. Ahsoka rolled to avoid the flurry of shots from the droid's pistol, firing back with her own sidearm only for the bolts to be absorbed by the armored hatch the slightly smarter OOM droid knew enough to seek shelter behind. Ghes's shot were similarly ineffective, and the droid continued to spray bolts down at Ahsoka in a desperate attempt to keep her back.

This continued for a few tense moments before a low-pitched whistle was followed by the crunch of crumpling metal as the droid was jerked out of the turret by an unseen force and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

Ahsoka smiled briefly to herself as she saw the fist sized rock lodged in the machine's head, then returned her attention to the momentarily defenseless tank. She quickly spotter the maintenance hatch under the turret that accessed the reactor and tossed the charge with a little extra nudge from the Force. The device locked onto the hull and Ahsoka ran, vaulting back over the tree and landing next to Ghes as he detonated the charge, sending shards of half melted durasteel flying as the hull plating around the reactor shattered.

"That's two!" Ahsoka yelled over the fading roar of the explosion, grinning like an idiot from the Togruta equivalent of adrenaline flooding her system.

"Then let's try fo…"Ghes began before being cut off by a laser cannon round that splintered the trunk they'd been taking cover behind and sent them sprawling into the dirt.

Ahsoka rolled over to see the last tank's turret turned toward them and the hull rotating to follow suit. Still feeling the effects of the close miss, she tried in vain to struggle to her feet while next to her Ghes fired wildly at the vehicle, trying desperately to hit an optic or something, anything, to throw off the gunner's aim just enough to extend their lives just a few moments longer.

And that's when Ahsoka saw Lux running out of the brush, Saw in tow, both holding droid poppers and making a beeline for the tank bearing down on her and Ghes.

Lux hopped up onto the hull and went straight for the pilot's hatch, jamming a vibroknife into the seem between it and the hull, while Saw used the lower surface as a stepping stool to swing up onto the gun barrel. Much like had happened to Ahsoka moments before, the tank commander sprang up out of the turret hatch, blaster in hand and ready to be brought to bear on Saw before a blue bolt screamed out of the jungle and tore the machine's head from its shoulders. His task now made all the easier by the droids attempt to defend its vehicle, Saw tossed the grenade into the open hatch just as Lux managed to jimmie the pilot's hatch open and do the same. A second later, the AAT sank to the ground, weapons barrels drooping as the electromagnetic discharge of the droid poppers fried the crew as well as the vehicles internal electronics.

Though it didn't show through his helmet, and there was no way he'd ever admit it, Ahsoka could tell Ghes was dumbfounded as the two rebels who had just saved them walked over to them, though she couldn't tell whether it was because of who had done it or that what they had done had even worked in the first place.

For her part, Ahsoka just felt drained, the rush of the battle and being moments away from death crashing hard now that the danger had passed.

"Are you all right?" Lux asked, helping her to her feet as Saw did the same for Ghes over his very loud objections.

"Get off me…"Ghes grumbled, pushing Guerrera away before having to grab onto his shoulder to steady himself a moment later.

"We're fine." Ahsoka said, being far more gracious about accepting the help then Ghes was. "Thanks for the save by the way."

"You couldn't have all the fun, right?" Saw said cockily. "Besides, after all you've done for us, it'd just look bad if we let the clankers blow you away."

"Ahsoka!" She heard Anakin's voice call out, and she turned her head to see him and Obi Wan jogging towards them, with Rex and the rest of the rebels not far behind.

"Are you all right?" Her master said as he stopped to look her over. "No injuries?"

"No." She reassured him. "Just a few cuts and bruises."

"I'm fine too." Ghes interjected. "Just a little concussed, not that anyone cares."

"Yes, we're glad you survived as well, colonel." Obi Wan said sardonically then raised an eyebrow. "Though, in the future, you may want to pay more attention to who it is you're talking to."

"Yeah…" Ghes said, rubbing the back of his helmet, and letting out an embarrassed laugh. "You kinda caught me at a bad time there, general."

"Yes, I suppose I did." Obi Wan agreed, smiling good naturedly. "And I can't deny that your plan worked out better than I expected."

"An entire droid company wiped out in under fifteen minutes." Anakin said, sounding more than a little impressed.

"And with minimal casualties on our side." Obi Wan added, he nodded approvingly towards Saw and Lux. "Clearly your fighters are more capable than we gave you credit for."

"Does that mean…?" Saw began, a tenable sense of anticipation in his voice.

"Yes." Obi Wan agreed. "You are free to move forward, with the Republic's blessing."

"Thank you, General!" Saw beamed. "We won't let you down, I promise."

"Indeed!" Lux added. "Rash and his Separatist puppet master's aren't going to know what hit them!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Seriously? You're all still here?

Sheesh, what does a guy have to do to be hated around here? i go through all the effort to shit all over a weirdly well liked character, going so far as to have Ghes wail on, ridicule, and otherwise belittle the guy, and the only comment I get is from someone _agreeing_ with me! Christ, at this point the only way I'm going to get out of spending the better part of the next two years (conservative estimate) finishing this thing is to say something that's either so horrifically racist that it would make Nathan Bedford Forrest blush, or start pushing ideas so far to either end of the political spectrum that you all just write me off as a complete nut. Damn my solid work ethic and strong sense of morality built by a good home life and Catholic education that would never allow me to become someone so reprehensible just to welch on work!

Seriously though, I would like to thank everyone who takes the time to read this, especially those of you who've been reading since the beginning and have stuck with it through twelve chapters, one hundred and nineteen pages, and just four shy of fifty thousand words (I count off my word doc, so that doesn't include these Author's Notes sections). You guys are the reason I'm able to keep up the motivation to keep doing this despite everything else vying for my attention on a daily basis. I put off finishing this for a while thinking that the ambush at the end would be a quick little scene I could knock out in an afternoon. It wasn't. That took three days to get the way I wanted, and I'm still not happy with how abruptly it ends. Add the eight hours it took me to transcribe it from my notebook into word, and another day for my editor to take a look at it, and you can probably guess why this is coming out on the twenty-eighth rather than the twenty-third like the last two months updates.

Well, that's going to be it for this month, I'm honestly pretty drained today. Remember to follow, favorite, review, yadda yadda, you get the idea.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Ahsoka was tired.

The last few days had been mentally exhausting and more than a little distressing. No matter how hard she tried to stop thinking about it, the Temple bombing still ate at her.

Coruscant had developed quite the record of terrorist acts over the past two years, but this felt different. Maybe it was because this was the first time the Temple had been targeted, she had to admit that had made it all feel more personal. But somehow it was the bomber herself, Turmond, that bothered her more than anything else. Try as she might, Ahsoka just couldn't wrap her mind around it, a Republic citizen harboring so much hatred for the Jedi…

"I just don't get it." She said to Ghes. "I mean, I know not everybody agrees with the war, but planting a bomb? And in the Temple of all places?"

Ghes shrugged. He'd only returned to Coruscant that morning, with Ahsoka having picked him up from the fleet yard earlier after she'd left the service for the victims of the bombing that the council had held that morning. After everything that had happened… she needed someone to talk to.

"The Temple's a symbol," Ghes said, digging through a cabinet for a can of caf. "of the Jedi, of the Republic… It makes sense as a target, for a terrorist anyway."

They'd gone to Ghes's apartment, Ghes having made it abundantly clear after the first time that he wanted to spend as little time as possible in the Temple. That was okay with Ahsoka, she didn't much want to be there right now either.

"That really doesn't explain why they'd want to plant a bomb." Ahsoka said, leaning back against the counter next to Ghes.

"What do you want me to say?" Ghes asked, coming out of the cabinet empty handed and turning to face her. "Some people are just crazy. Crazy and pissed off are a bad combination, especially when it comes to politics."

That really was it, wasn't it? Turmond had had a motive and she'd had the opportunity. Try as she might, Ahsoka wasn't going to find whatever x-factor set her apart from the hundreds of others in the same position, what had turned her into a killer. It was a hard pill to swallow, but it might just be something she'd have to accept.

"You didn't have to rush back, you know." Ahsoka said, trying to push the bombing and Turmond to the back of her mind. "I would've been heading back to the fleet tomorrow anyway."

"Vor can handle things without me for a few days." Ghes said, dismissing her concern with a wave. "Besides, I thought you could use my help with your investigation. I used to be a private investigator, you know."

"Yes, I know." Ahsok said, rolling her eyes.

It was amazing how often Ghes referenced his previous career compared to how few details he'd ever given her.

"But when I get here," He continued. "I find out that you, _cyar'ika_ , are so amazing that you had the whole case wrapped up neatly in a few days. And I came all the way from the Outer Rim for nothing."

"So that's the only reason?" Ahsoka said disbelievingly, eyebrow cocked.

"Maybe…" Ghes said, smiling wryly as he moved in front of her, placing his hands to either side of her waist and trapping her against the counter. "Or maybe I haven't had any time alone with my girlfriend in almost a month…"

Ahsoka matched his smile, seeing exactly where he was going. This was just the distraction she needed right now.

"Well then, what are you waiting for, soldier boy?"

Ghes leaned in… only to be interrupted by the beep of a commlink.

Ahsoka closed her eyes and sighed.

"Yours or mine?" She asked.

"Yours." Ghes groaned, clearly aggravated with the interruption.

Ahsoka swore under her breath as she brought the device up to her mouth.

"Commander Tano." She said, fighting to keep her own irritation out of her voice.

"Ahsoka," Anakin's voice answered. "are you in the Temple?"

Ahsoka sighed again. It was only fair, she supposed, she'd doubtlessly interrupted Anakin and Padme more than once.

"No, master." She answered. "I'm… out."

"Out?" Anakin asked.

"Afternoon, General." Ghes answered without being prompted.

"Oh…" Anakin said, seeming a little embarrassed when he realized what he'd done. "Anyway, Ahsoka, Admiral Tarkin called. He said Turmond's ready to talk, but only to you."

"All right." Ahsoka said. "I'll head over there right now."

"Now?" Ghes asked with a grimace as she returned the commlink to her belt.

"Sorry." She said. "If it's about the bombing…"

"I know." Ghes sighed, stepping back to let her away from the counter.

"To be continued." Ahsoka said reassuringly as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Drive me?"

"It's your speeder." He countered. "But I'll tag along if you want."

* * *

Turmond was being held in one of the newer GAR facilities on Coruscant, built after the start of the war rather than inherited from the pre-war Judicial Forces. It had a more martial feel than most of the older facilities, an atmosphere reinforced by the orbiting gunships and abundance of clone guards standing watch both on the grounds and throughout the corridors Ahsoka and Ghes passed through on the way to the detention center. Ghes seemed to know a lot of them, which wasn't surprising since he'd started out working with the Coruscant Guard at the beginning of the war. In fact, the only one of the shocktroopers who didn't seem glad to see him was the officer in charge of the detention area.

"Commander. Colonel." Commander Fox said flatly as he saw them approaching from his position inside the guard station.

"Fox." Ghes responded in the same tone.

"Admiral Tarkin said Turmond wanted to see me." Ahsoka said, stepping up to the guard station.

"A lot of innocent people died in that blast." Fox said to her, opening the first of the two security barriers after she dropped her commlink and lightsabers into a slot in the guard station window. "Good job capturing her."

"Thank you." Ahsoka said politely, uneasy with being praised when the way that this had played out still didn't sit right with her. She glanced over her shoulder at Ghes. "Are you coming in with me?"

"No." He said, leaning against the guard station blast window. "Probably better if I wait for you out here."

"Probably." She agreed, a little reluctant even if she knew it was probably right. "I'll try not to take too long."

"Don't worry," Ghes said, waving away the concern. "I'll hang out here and catch up."

"Suit yourself." Ahsoka shrugged before stepping through into the mantrap. She pulled her lightsabers and commlink off her belt and placed them into a slot in the barrier separating the trap from the guard station.

"All right, scan her." Fox said to the tech next to him once he'd closed the barrier behind her.

The scanners in the walls around her buzzed for a view seconds before the red lights lining the frame of the trap turned green.

"You're good to go, ma'am." Fox said, opening the second barrier into the cell block itself.

The detention center was designed along the same lines as the brigs onboard Venators and other newer Republic capital ships, with cells lining either side of a hexagonal passageway, set into the lower part of the wall so anyone walking down the center could observe the prisoners from an elevated position.

"You can leave your lightsabers and commlink here." The commander continued, stepping out from behind the guard station and starting down the walkway. "Follow me."

Turmond's cell was about a hundred meters down the walkway on the left side. Fox stopped just short of the door and turned to face her.

"She hasn't said anything to any of my men." The commander explained, leaning closer to her and lowering his voice. "And the only thing the interrogator got out of her was that she wanted to talk to you."

"But she's been cooperating?" Ahsoka asked, glancing around Fox at the closed cell door.

"More or less." He answered. "She seems spooked by something, just sits in the back of her cell."

So Turmond was afraid, then. But of what? The first thing that came to Ahsoka's mind was that the woman had had an accomplice after all, maybe more than one, and now she was afraid that they'd somehow get to her to keep her from talking. It was certainly an attractive idea, but that left the question of why Turmond wanted to talk to Ahsoka when she could have told that to the Rep Intel interrogator.

"Alright." Ahsoka said, nodding toward the cell. "Let's get this over with."

Fox nodded back to her before opening the door and stepping aside to let her through. As Ahsoka stepped into the cell she saw what the clone had been talking about. Turmond sat on the bed/bench that lined the back wall with her knees pulled up to her chest and her back in the corner. She seemed relieved to see Ahsoka, but eyed Fox nervously where he waited just outside.

"I'm giving you five minutes, Letta." Ahsoka snapped at the woman, not seeing any reason to feign politeness. "Now, what do you want?"

"I was told if I ever needed help, you were the Jedi to contact." She responded shakily, staying huddled in her corner.

By who?, Ahsoka thought. She waited a few moments for the woman to continue, but she didn't, instead remaining silent while she continued to eye Fox. Whatever it was she had to say, she didn't want to say it in front of the trooper.

"Give us a minute, please." Ahsoka said over her shoulder.

Fox nodded curtly and tapped his finger on the side of his helmet before turning to leave. He'd keep listening in on the cell's surveillance system, just in case.

"You don't have much time, Letta," Ahsoka continued after the cell door had closed. "so I suggest you get whatever you have to say off your chest."

"The idea of feeding Jackar the nano-droids was not mine." Turmond said after a moment, referencing her late husband whom she'd turned into her unwitting bomb.

 _So she's going to be direct, then._

It wasn't the most surprising confession the woman could have made, she didn't have anything in her background related to explosives or nanotech, as far as Ahsoka knew she didn't have much education in general. No, Intel and CSF had been certain from the minute she and Anakin had brought her in that Turmond had gotten the ordinance from a third party, they just hadn't been able to get her to admit it.

"Why are you saying this now?" Ahsoka asked. "Why didn't you mention any of this before?"

"Because my life is in danger." Turmond answered, less hesitant but just as weary. "The person behind this will be able to get to me unless you know the truth."

"Then tell me what the truth is." Ahsoka insisted.

"A Jedi." Turmond admitted, pausing for a moment after she'd said it as if she expected to be struck down in that instant, and continuing when she wasn't. "A Jedi showed me how to create the bomb and how to put the nano-droids in."

Now that shocked Ahsoka. Not that it could be true, there was no way a Jedi would have betrayed the order like this, by killing the beings they'd lived and worked alongside. Even Dooku had taken years to turn his saber on his former comrades. That an act of terrorism like Turmond's could have been planned by anyone inside the Order…

"Why would a Jedi do this?"

"There are some citizens of the Republic, like myself, who believe the Jedi Order is not what it used to be." Turmond explained, a note of self-righteous arrogance slipping into her voice. "The Jedi have become warmongers, military weapons, and they're killing when they should be keeping the peace. One of these Jedi agreed with us, one who wanted to make a statement and was willing to attack your own order to do it."

"Who?" Ahsoka asked, taking another step towards her.

She still wasn't sure she was willing to accept even the possibility that what Turmond was saying was true, but that didn't mean she was lying either. Beings had been known to impersonate Jedi to manipulate others to their own ends, Ahsoka had almost been abducted as a child by such a man. What Ahsoka knew was that Turmond believed what she was saying.

"If you protect me, I will tell you," Turmond continued, backing further into her corner. "because it is obvious to me now that I have been set up."

"Letta," Ahsoka said, holding up her hand and doing her best to radiate reassurance to the woman through the Force. "calm down. I can protect you, but first you have to tell me who's behind this."

"It's…." She began, only for her voice to catch in her throat.

"Leeta?" Ahsoka asked, trying to coax the woman to continue.

Turmond's eyes bulged with shock and panic as her hands moved searchingly to her throat, a cough turning into the horrible, wet sound of a human trying to breath through a closing windpipe. By the time Ahsoka realized what was happening, she'd begun rising up into the air over the bunk.

"Letta!" Ahsoka yelled, throwing up her hands and trying to break the phantom grip of the unseen Force user as Turmond continued to grab uselessly at her own neck, lashing out with kicks that found nothing to connect with as she continued to panic.

Ahsoka searched desperately for something, anything to exert her own will against to receive the pressure on Turmond's throat, but found nothing. Desperate, she turned her attention away from the suffocating women and cast her senses outward to try and locate the attacker, and found… nothing.

 _Impossible_ , she thought, there was no way anyone could get close enough to be doing this without her being able to sense them. Looking back up at Turmond, she met the woman's eyes, eyes that in that seemed to cry out help me in that moment before the cartilage of her windpipe collapsed with a sickening crunch and she collapsed into an unmoving heap on the cell floor.

"Letta!' Ahsoka repeated panickedly as she fell to the ground beside the woman, searching desperately for life signs she already knew she wouldn't find, almost not even hearing the pneumatic woosh of the cell door as it opened behind her.

"Back away from the prioner!" A clone's voice ordered, pulling Ahsoka's attention away from Turmond. There were four of them behind her, Fox included, eyeing her wearily and keeping a tight grip on their weapons.

"I don't know what happened." Ahsoka said, standing up and backing away from the woman's unmoving body as a trooper pushed by her and began checking for a pulse.

"Sir," The trooper said to Fox after a moment, pulling his hand away from Turmond's neck. "she's dead."

"Can't say I blame you, Commander," Fox said, leveling his pistol on her back. "but all the same, you're under arrest."

"I, n-no. I did not do this." Ahsoka said, keeping her hands raised as she turned slowly around to face the clone.

"Sure you didn't." He responded coldly, stepping aside and waving her out of the cell with the sidearm he still held on her.

Careful not to further provoke the notoriously jumpy shocktroopers, she moved slowly out of the cell and into the waiting arms of the other two troopers who had accompanied Fox into the cellblock. Positioning themselves on either side of her, they each grabbed onto one of her arms.

"Hey!" She heard Ghes yell down the hallway, and was able to look past the trooper to the left of her to see him running towards them, another trooper trailing behind trying futilely to get him to stop.

"Fox! What's going on here?" Ghes said, pointing angrily at the commander exiting the cell.

"Commander Tano killed Turmond, sir." Fox responded. "We're placing her under arrest."

"Like hell you are!" Ghes snapped, then turned to Ahsoka. "What happened?"

"I'm being framed, Ghes." She said. "Someone else orchestrated the Temple bombing, a Jedi. Turmond was about to tell me who it was…but she was killed."

"Not by you though?" He asked, a touch of genuine concern in his voice.

"No" She answered, shaking her head. "It was someone else, someone I couldn't see."

"Don't worry, we'll figure this out." Ghes said, his face taking on a stern expression of determination as he turned back to Fox. "Let her go."

"But, sir…" The trooper said defiantly.

"Now!" Ghes commanded, leaning in and jabbing a finger into the commander's breastplate. "I won't let you arrest a fellow officer on circumstantial evidence."

"Oh, but the evidence is more than circumstantial." Another voice called out from the direction of the cellblock's entrance. Surprised, Ahsoka turned to look for its source. She knew that smug, superior tone anywhere.

"Tarkin." Ghes growled. "What are you doing here?"

"I had intended to ask Commander Tano what information she had managed to glean form my prisoner." Tarkin said as he approached the group still congregated outside the open cell. "But it appears that she had little intention of _talking_ to Ms. Turmond."

The Admiral and the two shocktroopers escorting him stopped a meter short of where Ghes stood, glaring.

"She didn't kill her, Tarkin." He said, taking a step toward the taller man.

"As I said, colonel, the evidence is quite to the contrary." Tarkin said, pulling a small holoprojector from his belt and holding it in an outstretched hand as he activated it. "The audio is strangely absent, but I believe this tells us all we need to know."

Even Ahsoka had to admit it didn't look good. Without the audio, all you could see was Turmond floating in the air, choking, while Ahsoka stood below her, hands raised. Ghes looked to her, a hint of doubt present in his eyes.

"I was trying to help her!" Ahsoka exclaimed, struggling against the clones still holding her arms.

"Indeed." Tarkin said as he deactivated the hologram. He placed the projector back on his belt before looking around Ghes and addressing Commander Fox. "Place her in an Isolation cell, commander. And have the colonel escorted out of my facility."

"I'm not going anywhere until you let her go!" Ghes snarled, drawing his pistol and taking aim at the admiral's throat so fast Ahsoka barely saw the movement.

Surprised by Ghes's sudden aggression, Fox and Tarkin's escorts fumbled with their own weapons and were slow to train them on Ghes, who moved forward until the barrel of his sidearm was directly under the admiral's chin. Tarkin didn't even flinch.

"Ghes!" Ahsoka yelled. "Don't!"

"Put down your weapon, colonel," Tarkin said, voice low, face not betraying any fear. "and I won't feel compelled to report this incident to my superiors." Then, smiling thinly, he added. "Or to master Yoda."

For a moment, Ahsoka didn't know whether Ghes would stand down or put a bolt through the Admiral's neck. It appeared Ghes didn't know either, because he hesitated long enough for Fox to come up behind him and press his own pistol to the back of Ghes's head. Knowing he was beaten, Ghes closed his eyes, sighed, and lowered his sidearm. Holstering the weapon, he looked briefly back at Ahsoka, a grim sadness behind his eyes she had seldom seen, before once again hardening as he turned back to Tarkin.

"This isn't over, Tarkin." He said venomously before pushing past the admiral and his troopers

Looking at Ahsoka now, Tarkin smiled. "Oh, believe me, colonel, it is."

* * *

Anakin dashed across the courtyard of the GAR complex, pushing aside troopers and staff officers as he went. It had been less than a half hour since he'd gotten the call, first from an uncharacteristically distraught Col. Marczak, then from a disinterested GAR staffer, informing him of Ahsoka's arrest, and he was pissed. No, he was more than pissed, he was furious. Nobody messed with his padawan and got away with it, not even Admiral Tarkin.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to the main entrance, the first thing he noticed was Col. Marczak standing a half dozen steps from the top, the mottled green camouflage pattern of his armor making him stand out against the duracrete building.

"Colonel." Anakin said as he came up behind the man. "What's going on? Have they let you back in yet?"

"No." Marczak grumbled, his frustration clear. "Fox hasn't left that spot since they threw me out."

Looking the short way up to the entrance, Anakin could see what he was talking about. Commander Fox stood a meter from the actual entrance, arms folded, gazing intently back down at the colonel.

"You couldn't call in a favor?" He said, half in jest, though sometimes it seemed like every trooper on Coruscant owed Col. Marczak in one way or another.

"Not with Fox." The colonel replied. "He's always had a durasteel rod jammed up his _shebs_."

After that, Marczak slipped quickly into muttering strings of what Anakin assumed where Mandalorian obscenities under his breath. Recognizing that he wasn't going to be of any more use unless they needed to storm the compound, Anakin climbed the remaining steps to confront Commander Fox directly

"Commander." Anakin said, nodding politely to the trooper.

"I'm sorry, sir," Fox responded, guessing correctly what Anakin wanted. "but I can't let you in to see Commander Tano."

"What?!" Anakin said with more surprise than he liked. "Why not?"

"Like I told Col. Marczak." Fox said, gesturing down at the colonel. "Admiral Tarkin doesn't want anyone seeing the prisoner."

"That's ridiculous!" Anakin exclaimed, angered both by the situation and Fox's referring to Ahsoka as 'the prisoner'. He stepped forward and moved his hand to his lightsaber. "She's my padawan and I demand to see her!"

"I can't let you do that, general." Fox said, standing his ground.

He gestured to two of his men standing off to the side of the entrance. Riot Troopers, armed with electrostaffs. Even skilled as he was, Anakin wouldn't be able to take them down without creating a bigger incident than he willing to cause.

Yet.

* * *

Ahsoka rose slowly up off of the uncomfortable durasteel slab that was the only place to sit in her cell. She wasn't sure how long it had been since they'd left her here, a few cells down from where Letta Turmond had died in front of her. With everything that was going through her head meditation was impossible and what sleep she got was short and fitful.

She walked over to the sink, turning on the water and splashing some onto her face. In the small mirror set back into the wall, she could see that she looked as tired as she felt. It had to have been at least ten hours, possibly more, and she hadn't seen or heard from anyone besides the troopers that had thrown her the ration pack still sitting unopened on the floor beside what passed for her bunk.

Tarkin had to not be letting anyone in to see her, otherwise there was no way that she wouldn't have seen Anakin or Ghes by now at the very least. The admiral was proving to be a remarkably bitter and petty man, especially considering she'd been on the team that had rescued his ungrateful butt…

Ahsoka didn't know what gave her the sudden urge to look through the ray-shielded entrance of her cell, but when she did her eyes snapped immediately to a small plastoid rectangle attached to a lanyard laying on the walkway grating; a key card.

She smiled.

"I knew you guys wouldn't let me down." She said under her breath as she reached out, grabbing the card in the Force and lifting it up to the key slot.

 _Now let's see what you have planned_ , Ahsoka thought as she crept out into the passageway, though she still wasn't sure who it was that was helping her. The lack of blasterfire or explosives suggested it was a bit on the subtle side for one of Anakin's plans, but if Ghes were nearby she'd have been able to sense him. She found her lightsabers on the grating a few meters from her cell, which was definitely more of an Anakin thing to do.

 _They could be working together_.

That was a nice thought, might even make this whole mess almost worth it.

She rounded the last corner into the main passageway that led to the guard station slowly, peeking carefully to make sure it was clear. What she saw was confusing for the first moment, six shocktroopers slumped against the walls, but she quickly realized what had happened.

"No, no, no, no…." She muttered repeatedly as she ran to the nearest trooper and knelt to check his pulse, though it was obvious from charred slashes across his chest and torso that he was already gone.

This wasn't Anakin, it couldn't be, he'd never do this, and neither would Ghes. It had to be….

"Who are you?!" Ahsoka yelled into the silent emptiness of the cell block. "You killed Leeta Turmond! You killed these men! Why are you doing this?!"

Ahsoka didn't get an answer. Instead, the lights cut out only to be replaced by red emergency lighting strobing in time to a droning alert siren.

Down the hall, barely audible over the alarm, she heard the clicking of boots on metal and a clones voice.

"Move it, move it! We've got men down in there!"

 _They won't believe you_.

No, they wouldn't. Even if she surrendered quietly right here and went back to her cell, no one would believe she hadn't done this. Tarkin make sure of it.

 _You have to run. It's the only way._

And she did.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

The more astute amongst you may have noticed that, not only is this long awaited follow up to Chapter Twelve titled Chapter Fourteen rather than the more conventional Chapter Thirteen, but it also does not involve Lux Bontieri, the Guererra siblings or the planet Onderon as many of you may have expected it to given my past statements in previous posts.

Now, rest assured that I can count sufficiently enough to meet US Army standards and that a Chapter Thirteen of _LWL_ does exist in an incomplete state spread out between various notebooks and word docs. Also know that it is quite likely that a completed version of that chapter will appear at some nebulous point in the future, slotted into it's proper place and answering all those burning questions I'm sure you all have about what happens. For now, though, you're just going to have to live with getting back to a story that revolves around and furthers the development of the characters we've been following since the beginning in a significant way.

Seriously though, the main reason I'm putting this out is that it's done, the next chapter is 3/4 done, and the chapter after that is fully plotted with various bits of it already written, and, with everything that's going on in the world right now, I wanted to do something I could check off under "accomplishments". I won't linger on what I'm sure everyone's sick of talking to death about, so suffice it to say that my life's been derailed just as much as anyone else's, but with the additional complication of being placed on an active status to help deal with the crisis.

Enough with that though, let's get back to what people _like_ talking about. Christ, it's been a long time since I updated back in August. what's happened since then? The Mandalorian was actually pretty damn good, thankfully, though it added some more weird elements to new canon Mando culture like the never taking off the helmet thing. Rise of Skywalker was an astonishing trainwreck of a film that should prove once and for all that the people running Lucasfilms have no clue what they're doing creatively. Season six pt. 2 of _Clone Wars_ is so far splitting the difference between those last two by keeping on the better side of okay, though this week's episode started showing some cracks in my opinion, with some odd dialogue and scenes and a few plot points seeming rushed.

What else...?

Oh, Rosario Dawson is going to play live-action Ahsoka like we've apparently been demanding for years, though I'm not sure how she's going to fit into Mandalorian. Dawson's a good actress, though, and season one was good enough to earn the benefit of the doubt, so I'll remain optimistic.

And, lastly that I can think of right now, they're making a sequel series to _Rebels_ about Ahsoka and Sabine Wren making good on that bit of the epilogue to the God awful finale of that show where the two of them go find that Bridger kid in whatever space-whale gullet he's been trapped in Jonah-style out in the Unknown Regions for half a decade. It's amazing how little I care.

Well, that's it for now. It's good to be back and I promise it won't be another nine months before my next update, it might even be next week. Maybe. Probably not. I don't know anymore.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

It was the smell that stuck in her mind the most, that smell that was about the only thing a planet spanning metropolis had in common with Outer Rim farm towns. It was the smell of decay; rotting garbage, bodily fluids, spoiled food, the inevitable products of millions of beings packed into each square kilometer. Down here in the lower levels, the public services that kept this urban blight away from the surface were rarely seen, sanitation workers and droids unwilling to venture into areas so rarely visited by CSF patrolmen.

Well, the organic ones, anyway, Ahsoka thought as she passed two worn and beaten looking constable droids attempting to rouse what appeared to be the slumped form of a Gamorrean blocking a door. She gave them as wide a berth as possible. Droids were probably more likely to recognize her from whatever description Tarkin would supply CSF than a beat cop, but they were also quite a bit dumber and she could dismantle them without a second thought if she had to, so staying in their territory was probably the better option.

The events of the previous night, thinking she was being rescued only to find a hallway full of dead troopers followed by her harrowing escape, played over and over again in Ahsoka's head as she scrutinized every minor detail she could remember for any clue as to what she was actually going to do. All that she knew for sure was that she had been set up, at least by another Force-user if not Jedi. But why break her out when she was already in custody with evidence against her? Had whoever was framing her expected her to escape, or was she supposed to have died trying? The idea that she might be being led into another set up was almost as disturbing as the idea that it really was a Jedi behind all of this as Turmond had believed…

Ahsoka forced all of that conspiracy talk to the back of her mind. As important as it was that she untangle the plot of whoever was trying to manipulate events so she would take the fall for Turmond's murder and who knows what else, she wouldn't have any chance if she were caught before she even found out where to start searching for answers. Escape and evasion had to be her priority right now.

Jedi contingency protocol for a compromised operation; escape and evade pursuit until you can make contact with Republic planetary authorities, failing that, secure the necessary equipment to send a message off world to the closest Republic or Jedi vessel capable of providing assistance. Not much help there considering it was the Republic and the Jedi who were hunting her.

GAR special operations manual urban "E and E"; destroy sensitive equipment and intelligence, ditch or alter identifying uniforms and armor, blend with civilian population until extraction. Much more useful, thank the Force that Rex had always kept a stack of manuals on the bridge for long night watches.

Thinking pragmatically, her lightsabers, wrapped in part of a trash bag clutched against her chest, were probably the first thing she should ditch. Ghes would have told her to do it, Rex would have agreed with him, even if he wouldn't have suggested it himself. Anakin, though, he would have reminded her that a Jedi's lightsabers were her life, probably adding some anecdote about a time he'd lost his own weapon just to emphasize the point. While she was still as much a Jedi as she was a soldier, she'd risk keeping her sabers. Her clothes though…

Ahsoka walked a few blocks before she was able to find a thrift store, which wasn't as bad as it could have been, and it gave her time to subtly lift a few credits here and there from the crowd, hopefully not enough individually that any of the unlucky targets would miss it, but collectively enough to get her what she needed.

She headed right for the rear wall of the small, poorly lit shop stocked mostly with second-hand clothing and junk parts from dozens of different models of droids, speeders, comlinks, and assorted appliances. A quick check with the Force confirmed there was no one else besides the clerk, who she'd blown past without so much as glancing in his direction.

As she began going through the racks of clothes to find something suitable, Ahsoka weighed her options. Without access to Jedi or GAR systems, all she had to go on was what she could remember of the investigative work she and Anakin had done. That had ended with Turmond, though, once they'd brought her in Rep Intel had taken over rooting out any other connections she may have had to a larger terrorist cell. What that left her with was what Turmond had been trying to confess to her, that she'd had an accomplice, a Jedi. Not much to go on even if Ahsoka did choose to believe it. Their were a few thousand Jedi in the Order, most of whom she didn't really know, it'd be impossible to investigate everyone of them, not while she was already on the run. What she needed was information from the inside, anything that could give her a lead on where she could start looking for Turmond's accomplice.

Her hand came to rest on the last thing she needed, a well-worn synthetic cloth pack that looked like surplus from some long forgotten war in a far flung corner of the Galaxy. Ahsoka grabbed the sand colored bag and ducked into the curtained off corner of the shop that passed for a changing room. She stripped off her dress and leggings, rewrapped her lightsabers in them instead of the trash bag piece, and shoved the bundle into the pack. The outfit she'd grabbed to change into consisted of black trousers, a tank top of the same color, and a green jacket, the first three things she'd found near enough her size and in decent enough shape for her to wear. She couldn't find any boots, but not changing those shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Slinging the pack over her shoulder, Ahsoka walked to the front of the store and dropped the tags she'd taken off her "new" clothes onto the counter in front of the clerk, who she now saw was a heavyset, balding human disinterestedly taping away at a datapad.

"Wearing this stuff out?" He asked, picking up the tags and looking her over.

"Yes." She said, trying to sound as impatient as she could as she slapped a stack of cred chips down on the countertop. "This should cover it."

He took his time counting, stopping every couple of seconds to glance up at her or over at the datapad now sitting on the counter.

"You know," The clerk said as he finally opened the cash box to put away the counted chips. "a while ago a couple of them security droids came in asking if I'd seen a Togruta girl."

"Really?" Ahsoka said, feigning disinterest. "I'll have to keep my eyes open."

"Wanted on some kind of murder charges, serious stuff." He continued as if she hadn't said anything, closing the cash box and folding his hands on the counter in front of him. "Of course, you wouldn't know anything about that, now would you?"

Ahsoka just looked at the man. He was easy enough for her to read, didn't have all that much going on upstairs, and he really was being serious. What was his angle, though? Was he trying to collect the bounty that was probably on her head by now? No, that wasn't it, so what was it? Ah, there it was, he was trying to fleece her, get her to pay him off to not say anything.

She sighed.

"That's probably not me." She said, putting the Force behind her voice and waving her hand in the distracting gesture she'd been taught as a youngling. Mind tricks had never been her specialty, but this man seemed fairly weak minded.

"No,… it's probably not you." The clerk agreed, his eyes starting to lose focus.

"I should be on my way now." She continued.

"You should be on your way now." He repeated.

Ahsoka turned to leave, but paused. She still needed a way to get in contact with someone…

"I need to make a call. Let me borrow your comlink."

"Here, borrow my comlink." He took the device out of his pocket and held it out for her to take.

"Thank you." She said, snatching the device out of his hand, then quickly adding. "You won't tell anyone I was here."

"I won't tell anyone…" He started, but Ahsoka was already out the door before he could finish.

As she started down the walkway again, she looked down at her newly acquired comlink, an older model, as should probably be expected considering the state of everything else in that store. It worked though, she noted as she flipped the device open. That just left the question of who exactly she was going to call.

Anakin was out of the question; he'd already taken enough of a risk letting her escape the night before. If she had to bet, somebody'd be keeping an eye on him, either the Council or Tarkin.

Ghes…, she didn't know what Ghes would do if she called him. He wasn't the kind of guy to sit back during something like this, especially not when she was the one in trouble. He'd want to meet up, help her investigate, and, much as she might have wanted him to, she couldn't let him. After what had happened… Tarkin knew, she was sure of it. She wasn't going to let Ghes get himself court-martialed trying to save her.

Who did that leave; Rex? No, he was tied into the GAR system even more then Ghes and Anakin were, besides, he was probably out with the troopers hunting her. Padme? She'd just get Anakin involved. Barriss? Maybe. She'd seemed pretty distraught after the service yesterday, but…

Ahsoka stopped walking and sighed. She didn't have much choice, did she?

"Hello?" Barriss's voice came shakily through the comlink. She sounded a little better, not much, but still.

"Barriss, it's me, it's Ahsoka."

"Ahsoka?" Barriss didn't sound shaky anymore. "What happened? They said you murdered that woman who bombed the temple…"

"Barriss!" Ahsoka snapped. "Listen, I can't talk for long. Somebody's trying to frame me, maybe someone inside the Order, I'm not sure. I got away, but what I need right now is your help."

"What? Ahsoka, I can't…"

"I just need a lead."Ahsoka reassured her. "There has to be something I missed, maybe something CSF or Intel found, something to help me find whoever is doing this to me."

The comlink was silent. Ahsoka knew she was asking a lot of her friend, especially in the fragile emotional state she'd been in since the Temple bombing.

"Barriss," Ahsoka continued. "please, you're the only one I can turn to."

"Okay," Barriss answered reluctantly. "I'll do some digging. Where are you? How can I get in touch with you?"

"I'm…" Ahsoka started to say and then caught herself. The chances that someone was listening to their conversation weren't good, but… well, Ahsoka didn't want to take any risks. "I'm in the lower levels, that's all I can say right now. Don't call this com back, I'm going to ditch it. I'll find some way to get in contact with you tonight."

"Alright. I'll see what I can find by then." Barriss promised. "Be careful, Ahsoka."

"I will." She said, and then cut the link.

Now she had a few hours to kill. Probably best to keep moving, especially if CSF was spreading her description around.

She looked down at the comlink again. There was no way she was giving it back to that clerk, maybe if he hadn't tried to extort her, but he had. Keeping it wasn't an option either, if he woke up enough to report it stolen then it could be traced. She'd ditch it in an alley somewhere, but first….

She'd decided she wasn't going to call Ghes for help, but a short call couldn't hurt, just to let him know she was okay…

No, he wouldn't leave it at that, or someone would overhear and he'd get in trouble, or any of a dozen other things that could go wrong that made contacting him a bad idea.

Ahsoka sighed. She could still feel him in the back of her mind, she always could, there for her to reach out and feel like he was there with her. It just wasn't the same as talking to him, though, was it?

But still...

Ghes reacted how he always did, surprised, as if he'd forgotten she could do this, but that faded quickly. It was replaced by concern, and she sent back reassurance. That wasn't satisfying for him, she could tell, but it was all she could give him right now. Well, almost all…

There was one thing she could communicate through their bond clearer than anything else, three words she'd had the most practice saying in all the time they'd been together…

 _I love you._

* * *

"And you say you lost her in the ventilation tunnels?" Tarkin asked, a hint of amusement in his voice as he looked across the table at Skywalker, like a parent giving their child a chance to correct their story.

"Yes." The Jedi confirmed, stubbornly sticking to his guns. "I wasn't able to keep up with her and she escaped, probably into the lower levels."

Skywalker lied badly, enough so that Ghes wondered why he ever even bothered trying. He'd let Ahsoka get away from him, there was no doubt in Ghes's mind, and, if it hadn't of been for the six dead troopers, he'd have been inclined to believe the Jedi had let her out of her cell in the first place. A quick look around the Coruscant Guard ops room made it pretty apparent that Ghes wasn't the only one who'd reached that conclusion, and equally obvious that no one was going to get any closer to calling Skywalker out on the lie than Tarkin currently was.

"We've already been over this." Skywalker continued, his frustration clear. "I don't know why..."

"Yes, general," Tarkin said, cutting him off. "we have, but it is important we establish exactly what allowed Padawan Tano to escape your pursuit."

"I believe it equally important that we find out how she escaped your custody in the first place, admiral." General Plo Koon said, his voice filtered through the mask all Kel Dor wore when off their homeworld. "The explanation you provided has many… _holes_."

Ghes didn't like dealing with Kel Dor, physiology was too alien, made them hard to read. Ahsoka liked this one, though, and so did the men under his command, from what he'd heard. That counted for a lot in Ghes's book.

"I don't see how, general, my investigation was quite thorough." Tarkin sniffed. "The chain of events is fairly obvious from what we've determined, she used a Jedi mind trick to convince a clone to open the door, then proceeded to cut him down along with five others before fleeing the facility."

"Yet there lies the issue, Admiral." The Kel Dor admonished. "Ahsoka has always shown great concern for the clones under her command. That she would now murder these men is… _difficult_ to believe."

"Master Plo makes a good point." General Windu agreed. "I do not believe that Ahsoka could have fallen so far."

"With all do respect, general, the _beliefs_ of the Jedi Council are irrelevant." Tarkin spat, letting his arrogance show through his usual dispassionate demeanor. "We deal strictly in facts and evidence, and the evidence points to Padawan Tano being guilty of the attack on the Temple and the murder of Republic officers."

"That's a load of _osik_ and you know it, Tarkin!" Ghes snapped, no longer able to keep his mouth shut while the admiral did his level best to paint the woman he loved as a terrorist. "All you have is circumstantial evidence for anything other than Turmond's murder. You've done nothing since we've been here but make baseless accusations without even once considering that she might be innocent!"

Now here was a man he despised, probably more than anyone else in the Republic. Maybe even more than Vizla, though _buir_ would probably have beaten his _shebs_ if he ever heard him say anything like that. Then again, maybe he'd understand. Men like Tarkin weren't uncommon; arrogant, petty, and utterly convinced of their own superiority because of money, or breeding, or any of the other _osik areuetiise_ used to decide which of them was better than the others, you dealt with them all the time living in the Core. But Tarkin possessed a ruthlessness and cunning most of those men didn't, and that made him dangerous.

"Hmm, quite." Tarkin said quietly after a moment, beginning to tap away at the control console for the room's central holotable. "You are, of course, right about my assuming Padawan Tano's guilt, colonel. I see no need to go searching for phantom assailants in one of the most secure facilities in the galaxy when there was a far more likely suspect standing in front of me. What I do find puzzling, though, is your refusal to accept reality. Almost as puzzling as your presence here."

"I'm a member of General Skywalker's staff and I've been hunting criminals since I was old enough to carry a blaster." Ghes shot back, crossing his arms across his chest. "If you want Commander Tano found quickly and without anyone else getting hurt, you're going to want my help."

 _Not that I'm going to turn Ahsoka over to you when I do find her_ , Ghes added silently. He was already working on a plan to get her off planet and as far away from this _chakaar_ as possible.

"Oh, I didn't mean to question you're credentials as a mercenary, colonel. It seems you misunderstood my meaning." Tarkin looked up from the console as a hologram of the GAR table of organization sprang into being, with one particular line of text highlighted. "Eighth battalion, reconnaissance, 501st clone legion, attached to the _Acclamator_ -class cruiser Retaliation. I do believe this is your command, correct colonel?"

"It is." Ghes confirmed, his stomach sinking as he saw where this was going.

"That's odd, then." Tarkin began, raising an eyebrow. "It would appear that your men are deployed in support of ongoing operations in the Outer Rim, yet here you are on Coruscant."

"What exactly are you accusing me of, Tarkin?" Ghes growled.

"Abandoning your post, dereliction of duty, _insubordination_." Tarkin listed, putting particular emphasis on the last one. "Not that this is anything new if your service record is to be believed. You appear to have developed quite a penchant for disobeying orders and appearing in places you shouldn't. May I ask why you were with Padawan Tano…"

"You arrogant, _di'kutla_ sack of…!" Ghes barked over Tarkin's words. "I am an officer of the Grand Army of the Republic…!"

"You are a _mercenary_ ," Tarkin spat back with utter contempt. "a hired gun. You'd do well to remember that when speaking to me!"

"Enough!" Windu shouted before Ghes could respond. "You are _both_ out of line!"

"Yes!" Yoda agreed, tapping his cane sharply against the durasteel floor. "Pointless, this argument is. To the matter at hand, let us return."

"Of course, master Jedi." Tarkin said, inclining his head in a slight deferential bow. "I just felt it was relevant to ensure there are no, conflicts of interest, shall we say."

Ghes glared daggers at the admiral. Why even dance around it at this point? Did he think this was going to get him to shut up and step in line?

A quick glance around at the four Jedi didn't tell Ghes much. That was the thing with the older ones, a lifetime of suppressing emotions led to them not showing much on their faces. But they were looking at him, waiting for him to say something…

 _Ahsoka_.

"General Skywalker," Ghes began, straightening up sharply. "It's clear I'm not needed here. Permission to be dismissed?"

That caught them a little off guard, he could tell. Well, except Tarkin, it was probably what the miserable chakaar wanted.

"Granted." Skywalker said with a nod. It was clear he wanted Ghes out of there as well, though mainly for Ahsoka's sake considering how close Tarkin was coming to outing her and Ghes.

"Gentleman." Ghes said, snapping a crisp salute and then quickly departing before anyone could return the gesture.

 _Ahsoka_.

He felt her, she was reaching out to him through their link in the Force.

 _Where are you? Are you safe? What do you need me to do?_

This was always so aggravating, feeling her so close but not being able to really say anything to her.

She was trying to reassure him, he could tell, but that wasn't enough. He needed to know where she was so he could get to her before Tarkin's men could…

Ghes stopped as he was stepping out of the lift into the speeder bay and smiled bittersweetly. At least there was one thing he could hear clearly.

 _I love you too._

* * *

She'd picked up the tail three blocks back.

At least, that's when she'd noticed it. Whoever it was, they were good, it was only because of a fluke that she'd noticed them at all, a gut feeling and a reflection in a window. More importantly, she couldn't feel them in the Force, which meant they were hiding their presence. They were Force-sensitive.

 _Looks like I might not need your help at all, Barriss_ , Ahsoka thought to herself as she fingered the tip of the knife hidden up her sleeve.

She'd lifted it off a Twi'lek kid she'd "accidently" bumped into a block back, old trick that still worked in a crowd. Probably did the kid a favor, he'd looked like he was going to do something stupid.

Now she just needed a place to make her move…

The alleyway coming up on the right looked like as good a place as any. She ducked in and slowed her pace to let her pursuer gain ground, letting the knife drop and catching the grip in her hand. They may have been hiding themselve from the Force, but she had other senses that weren't so easy to fool.

The tail walked lightly, but Ahsoka could still hear the faint click of boot heels on durasteel as they started coming down the alley after her. She walked a few more meters, putting a little more space between them and any pedestrians that could potentially get caught in their fight, before the scrape of metal on leather forced her hand.

Ahsoka spun on her heel, sending the poorly weighted knife on a Force-assisted flight blade-first towards her attacker's torso.

The woman, Ahsoka could see now that it was a thin, humanoid woman in a face concealing helmet, spun out of the way. She attempted to bring her blaster back up, but Ahsoka had closed the distance between them, grabbing the woman's wrist and twisting it so the two shots she got off before dropping the weapon went through the side of a dumpster.

Pressing her advantage, Ahsoka twisted the woman's arm behind her back and pushed her face first up against the wall.

"Who are you?!" Ahsoka growled. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Don't tell me you don't recognize me, Tano." The woman taunted back in a raspy voice Ahsoka was all too familiar with. "I'm hurt."

"Ventress?" Ahsoka said, letting up just enough in her surprise for the Dathomiri to get a foot up on the wall and push off so that she had to let go or be forced off her feet.

"So you're the one behind all this!" She continued, steadying herself before rushing back at the woman.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ventress spat, blocking Ahsoka's attempt to grab her again. "What I know is that there's a bounty on your horned little head I intend to collect."

"So you're a bounty hunter now?" Ahsoka said, keeping in close so Ventress couldn't draw either of the sabers she now saw hanging from her belt. "How do you think you're going to collect? You're a war criminal and a Sith, they'll lock you up right next to me!"

"I can hand you over to the bondsman and still get paid!" Ventress snarled. "And you don't have to be alive, either!"

She kept backing up, trying to get the breathing room she needed to go for her sabers, or any other weapons she may have had on her, but Ahsoka was doing her best not to give the witch that chance. Blasterfire and a fist fight wouldn't draw any real attention down here, but lightsabers… lightsabers turned heads, especially with a manhunt on for a "rogue" Jedi. Besides, Ahsoka's own sabers were still in her pack with no good way for her to get to them without giving Ventress an opening. They couldn't do this forever, though, probably not even for much longer. She needed a way to end this…

Ahsoka saw it out of the corner of her eye while ducking to avoid a punch, Ventress's blaster, lying a few meters behind her where it had fallen. That far away… she was only going to get one shot at grabbing it before Ventress realized what she was doing. She grabbed the weapon in the Force and pulled it towards her, going to a knee and reaching out a hand to meet it. Ventress, instinctively stepped back to block an expected counter to the punch Ahsoka had dodged, realized a second too late what was happening and went to tackle Ahsoka just as her hand closed around the blaster's grip. She swung the weapon around, whipping the barrel into the side of Ventress's helmet with an audible crack.

The thing about helmets is, while wearing one would keep you from getting cut or fracturing your skull, most wouldn't do much to stop the energy of a blow from transferring into your skull.

The Dathomiri went limp from the impact, smacking her head almost as hard again when she hit the ground. Not wasting any time, Ahsoka jumped on Ventress. Putting a knee into the woman's chest, she tore the helmet off her head and pointed the blaster squarely at her face.

"Hands where I can see them!" Ahsoka ordered. "Now!"

Still shaken, and possibly concussed, Ventress groaned loudly as she complied, placing her hands palms up on the ground above her head.

"If you're going to shoot me, just get it over with." She moaned.

"I should." Ahsoka said. "After everything you've done, I should!"

"Then do it!" Ventress snarled defiantly through gritted teeth.

Ahsoka looked down at the woman she had at her mercy, finger tensed on the trigger. Ventress was responsible for who knew how many deaths; troopers, Jedi, civilians, all while she'd been Dooku's personal assassin. And she didn't believe for a moment that she wasn't somehow behind what had happened. Hell, she was trying to kill her right now. The more Ahsoka thought about it, the more reasons she could think of why she should just pull the trigger and end her miserable life right here and now.

So why hadn't she? It wouldn't exactly be in cold blood; she'd just have been defending herself. But she'd know the truth, wouldn't she?

"No." She said finally. "You're getting what's coming to you, witch, but first you're going to clear my name."

"I already told you…"

"Yes you do!" Ahsoka yelled over the protest. "You framed me for killing Leeta Turmond! You're the one behind the Temple bombing! It was all you!"

"Why?!" Ventress snapped back. "What reason would I have to do any of that?!"

"Revenge." Ahsoka said. "Against the Jedi, against the Republic…"

"Revenge?" Ventress repeated, almost laughing at the idea. "Do you know where revenge against the Jedi has gotten me? My "master" betrayed me and now I hunt debtors and bail jumpers for scraps! I don't care about your Order or your war anymore!"

She glared up at Ahsoka, hatred burning in her eyes, but in the Force… No, there was no deception there.

Ahsoka roared in anger and frustration, standing up off of the woman and kicking away a piece of discarded metal that was just one of the many pieces of garbage littering the alley.

"I take it you believe me, then?" Ventress said, starting to stand before Ahsoka wheeled back on her with the blaster.

"Stay down!" She ordered. "You're still a criminal, I can't just let you walk away."

"So are you." Ventress sneered, pulling her legs in so she was now seated upright. "The difference is the whole planet isn't looking for me."

Much as Ahsoka might have hated to admit it, Ventress had a point. With the Coruscant Guard and CSF after her, and now a bounty on her head, she wasn't exactly in any position to be taking prisoners. That didn't leave her with many options. If she let Ventress go now the witch was going to try this again, and killing her was… well, it wasn't an option she was going to take unless she had to. What that left her with was two choices, either find some way to restrain her and make an anonymous tip to CSF, or…

"If you didn't do all this then you're going to help me find out who did." Ahsoka said finally.

"And why would I want to do that?" Ventress scoffed.

"Dooku tried to kill you, right?" Ahsoka asked rhetorically. "The only lead I have is that whosever doing this is a Force user. Without you, that means a…"

It was still difficult to say because she didn't want to accept it was possible, but now it seemed unavoidable.

"…a Jedi." She finished. "What if this is his new apprentice? Don't tell me you don't want to get back at him for betraying you."

"Is that all you can offer?" Ventress laughed. "Maybe I can kill Dooku's new pet? You're going to have to do better than that with how much money you're worth."

"Okay..." Ahsoka growled. "How about this? If you help me, I'll put in a good word on your behalf, you get a full pardon, become a free woman. How's that sound?"

"You're not that well connected." Ventress said dismissively.

"My master is." Ahsoka countered. "The chancellor listens to him, so does Senator Amidala. If you help me, I can get him to convince them, and you're as good as pardoned."

"Deal." Ventress said after she'd thought about it for a moment, reaching out a hand to be helped to her feet. "But don't think I'm forgetting about that bounty if this starts to go against you."

"You try anything again and I won't give you the chance to regret it." Ahsoka snapped, unsure herself whether or not she was bluffing. She waved away Ventress's hand and made her stand up herself. "Not that you'd get very far even if you did manage to collect."

"You think Skywalker scares me, girl?" Ventress said, reaching her feet and dusting herself off.

"He should." Ahsoka shot back. Not to mention everyone else who'd be after her; Ghes, Rex, Obi Wan, probably Master Plo… "And don't think he'd be the only one, either."

"Well aren't you special." Ventress mocked as she bent to retrieve her discarded helmet. "Tell me, why do you need my help if you have all these friends?"

Ahsoka growled lowly, more out of aggravation for having walked herself into that one.

 _It's because I don't care what happens to you_ , She thought, holstering the blaster through her belt at the back, the weapon hidden by her jacket and pack.

"Come on." She ordered as she walked past Ventress and back the way they'd come down the alley, toward the storefronts and the skylane. "I have to make a call."

* * *

Directing Coruscant air traffic must have been a nightmare.

At least, that's what Ghes had always thought during the years he'd lived here, looking up at a sky perpetually swarming with airspeeders and starship's ranging from swoop bikes to lumbering freighters and, in recent years, capital ships. Even discounting planetary traffic bound to the skylanes that ran through every corner of globe-spanning city, there were still thousands of vessels airborne at any given time, all of which needed to be identified, tracked, and directed to any of hundreds of spaceports, large and small.

Back when he used to work with his _buir_ , what felt like half a lifetime ago, there had been a few times when they'd had a case or a bounty or a contract that had brought them into this world. It was pretty much always smugglers trying to run something under CSF's nose; drugs, weapons, live animals, one guy even tried moving Twi'lek girls with the help of a corrupt customs agent, which hadn't ended well for either of those two geniuses once _buir_ had gotten a hold of them. That one had been a bit tricky to explain to security when they turned over the bodies…

The point was, with the amount of traffic that came into Galactic City every hour, it was a pretty simple task to slip most anything through without much scrutiny, provided you didn't do anything suspicious and stuck to smaller spaceports, the kind that mostly berthed personal transports, like the one Ghes was at now.

He stood leaning up against a wall as he waited for the worn down Sorusuub yacht to finish its landing sequence. Finding an open hangar hadn't been an issue, usually wasn't when you were willing to pay upfront, and everything usually went a lot faster when you weren't trying to cover your tracks.

Ghes knew the game, knew that Tarkin only let him walk out of that meeting because he thought keeping him out of the loop would keep him out of the way, but it also opened up other options. Acting as an officer of the Grand Army, all his actions were subject to scrutiny and, with Tarkin looking over his shoulder, censure. Acting as a private citizen, though… well, there wasn't much the admiral could do to him at all up until he broke a law, one of the perks of being a mercenary. The most he could do was maybe have Ghes followed, probably not that difficult when he was wearing his _beskar_ , but who was he going to send? Fox's men stuck out even more wearing bright white and red, and Ghes was willing to bet that'd he'd done more favors for Intel than Tarkin ever had. That was how he'd gotten out of the Coruscant Guard, after all.

The yacht settled into its landing struts with a hiss of released pneumatic pressure, the boarding ramp folding out of the side of the hull as the roar of the engines faded into silence. Ghes stood off the wall as he saw the four men that had occupied the vessel begin to disembark, grabbing the duffel he'd brought off of the ground next to him. He waved off the salutes they tried to give as he approached.

"Stand down, boys," Ghes said, coming to a stop in front of the group. "we're not on the clock, so I don't want any of that."

"Roger, col… boss." Vor responded sheepishly. "Should have figured that one."

Ghes would admit he hadn't been that clear when he'd called them the day before, after Ahsoka's escape. All he'd told them was that she was in trouble and to come in a non-Republic ship without their armor. Gathering from the probably commandeered ship and the civilian attire they were wearing; they'd followed even those vague instructions to the letter. He loved his men.

"So, what's in the bag, boss?" Niner asked excitedly. "You get me a gift?"

Ghes smirked under his helmet.

"This is plan B." He said, tossing the bag down in front of them.

"What happened to plan A?" Vor asked as the others kneeled to open the duffel.

"Dead on arrival." Ghes said flatly. Plan A, what he'd originally been planning before he'd gotten into it with Tarkin that morning, was going to be slipping the four of them, Vor, Stalker, Rip, and Niner, in with the shocktroopers he'd assumed he'd be leading as part of the manhunt. That wasn't really tenable now for obvious reasons.

Rip whistled.

"This is a lot of hardware, boss." The sergeant said, pulling a durasteel combat helmet painted in dark grey out of the bag and turning it over to look at the interior. "Serious hardware."

"Four sets of body armor, carbines and sidarms." Ghes listed off. "Compliments of _ner buir_."

 _Or at least they would be if he knew I'd taken this stuff_ , he added silently. That was another thing for him worry about later. Besides, _buir_ had made him part owner years ago, so technically, he didn't have to ask borrow anything.

"So this is merc kit." Niner said, still digging through the bag. "Looks expensive."

He pulled out a carbine and handed it to Stalker, who pointed it at the ground and looked through the sights.

"Custom built kit like this?" The sniper laughed. "Gotta be worth at least a year's pay."

"Hey, boss, is your old man hiring?" Rip asked, his voice filtered through the vocoder of the helmet he'd pulled on. "I'm asking for a friend."

Ghes chuckled a little under his breath. Clones were about the only ones he'd ever met that got as excited about kit as he did, probably because it was all they really knew.

"Sir…" Vor began quietly, pulling Ghes aside.

"What did I just say about that, Vor?" Ghes interrupted the trooper with mock admonishment.

"Sir," Vor said again, more forcefully this time. "You need to tell me what's going on. What happened to Commander Tano?"

Ghes sighed heavily and took off his helmet. He'd let himself get distracted, but Vor was right, it was time to tell them. He smiled sullenly and clapped a hand on Vor's shoulder, then turned back to the others.

"Alright, boys, mission brief time, so listen up." Ghes said, tucking his helmet under his arm and pacing in front of where they were laying out their new gear. "I'm going to assume Vor told you why I came back to Coruscant, roger?"

He paused for a moment for them to answer, all nodded.

"Good." Ghes continued. "Long story short; the whole thing's gone sideways and they're blaming Ahsoka for the bombing and killing the woman that she arrested for it."

"That's ridiculous, boss." Niner interjected. "There's no way Commander Tano'd do something like that."

"Me, you, and the entire 501st knows that, Niner." Ghes agreed. "But Admiral Tarkin and our illustrious Jedi leaders don't agree. They had her in custody until someone broke her out, I don't know who, just that whoever it was killed six of your brothers and is probably the same _hut'uun_ that's been behind all of this."

"Is that who we're after?" Stalker asked eagerly. "We going to find the guy and gut him?"

"If the opportunity presents itself." Ghes said. "But that's not the primary objective. Finding Ahsoka is, finding her and bringing her back here so we can get her off world until this all blows over."

"Sir," Vor said. "if Commander Tano is wanted by the Republic…

"I know." Ghes cut him off, then sighed. "I'm not going to lie to you, if we do this we'll be aiding and abetting a fugitive. If we do this _right_ no one will know you were involved and I'll be the only one they come down on, but there's still a risk.

"Colonel," Rip said, forgetting Ghes's earlier instruction not to use his rank. "If you think we're going to let them arrest you…"

"You will, and that's an order, sergeant." Ghes snapped. "But that's the only order I'm giving today. I won't make you help me, not with this. You can all back out now and I won't hold it against you."

"We're with you, sir." Vor said without hesitation, Stalker, Rip and Niner, nodding their agreement.

"Good." Ghes said, smiling thinly. "Finish gearing up, we move out in five."

* * *

"Stop tinkering with that thing and just make your call." Ventress sneered, glancing back over her shoulder at the deserted street outside the public holobooth.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, knowing the woman couldn't see her face while she worked in the booth's service access. They'd gotten lucky here, finding any part of this planet where somebody wasn't lurking was usually next to impossible, finding a place like this with a holobooth was a minor miracle. Best not to waste it by being careless.

"I don't want anyone to be able to trace it." Ahsoka explained, her hand finding the right component and yanking the chip out with an audible snap. "There, easy."

She stood out from under the device's housing and punched in the code on the keypad.

"Do you mind?" She said to Ventress over her shoulder, finger hovering over the enter key.

Ventress huffed and rolled her eyes, but stepped back away from the both.

"Barriss, it's me." Ahsoka said as the blue image of her friend materialized in front of her.

"It's so good to see you, Ahsoka." Barriss said, smiling in her usual dour way that made Ahsoka wonder if the girl was ever really happy. "Are you okay?"

"If you consider every trooper and cop on the planet being on my tail a good place to be in." Ahsoka joked.

"Were you almost captured?" Barriss asked, concerned.

"Not yet." Ahsoka said, deciding Ventress didn't count. "But I don't know how much longer that's going to last. Did you manage to find anything?"

"Possibly…" Barriss began sheepishly. "Where are you?"

"We don't really have much time, Barriss." Ahsoka insisted. "Can you just tell me what you found?"

"It's…, well…" Barriss started before sighing in frustration. "This would be easier if you'd just tell me where you were."

Ahsoka bit her lip. She'd disabled the booth's monitoring and recording equipment.

"I'm on level 1312," She said, craning her neck around to look outside the booth at a street sign. "at the corner of twelfth and G."

"Got it." Barriss said, hands moving to something Ahsoka couldn't see in the hologram. "Three levels up from you to the north on sixty-third. There's an abandoned warehouse used to assemble munitions that Turmond visited during the time when CSF thinks she was getting access to the nanodroids."

"If CSF is investigating won't there be a patrol on duty?" Ahsoka pointed out, though for a case as big as the Temple bombing, they would probably have the whole area on lockdown.

"It's something they've just started looking into." Barriss explained. "They haven't had time to get a warrant."

That was… odd. Ahsoka hadn't thought they were still investigating Turmond, she'd kind of assumed that all of CSF and the GAR's resources would have been devoted to hunting her. Then again, she hadn't been on the run long, only a little over a day, and there still had been a few unanswered questions about the bombing before she'd been framed…

"That's perfect, Barriss." Ahsoka said, moving her hand over the end call button. "Thank you."

"Be careful, Ahsoka." Barriss said before her hologram winked back out of existence.

"Well?" Ventress said to her as she left the booth, arms crossed and fingers tapping impatiently on her upper arm.

"I have a lead." Ahsoka told her. "An abandoned munitions warehouse on level 1315. We should be able to find something there."

"Hmm…" Ventress hummed, considering what Ahsoka had said for a moment. "I think I know where it is you're talking about."

"Can you get me there?" Ahsoka asked.

"I can."

"Good." Ahsoka said. That'd save a lot of time. "Let's get goi…"

Ahsoka let her words trail off into silence as she heard something echoing down one of the side streets. It sounded like… heavy boots on duracrete. Troopers. From both directions, she could hear now, at least ten.

"What…?" Ventress's hearing wasn't as good, and it took her a few seconds longer to catch, but once she did she tensed and moved into a defensive stance.

"There they are!" The lead trooper of the group coming at them from the left yelled as he rounded the corner, followed a second later by another group from the right. The troopers spread out as they moved, forming two vees that came together into a circle around the two women.

"Don't move!" The leader, not Fox but a trooper in grey highlighted armor Ahsoka recognized, ordered. "Commander Tano, you're under arrest. Come along quietly and nobody has to get hurt."

"That's not going to happen, Wolf." Ahsoka said. "I don't want to fight you."

"I do." Ventress interjected.

"Shut up!" Ahsoka snapped over her shoulder before turning back to the troopers. "I'm not going to hurt any of you, we're not going to hurt any of you, but I can't let you take me in. You know I didn't kill those men, let me go so I can find out who did."

The shocktroopers looked to Wolf, waiting for his response. Even if the commander believed her, the men he was leading might think differently. Ahsoka had never worked with the Coruscant Guard, few Jedi had, and it was their men, not Wolf's, who she'd been accused of killing. This put him in a difficult situation, one Ahsoka probably wouldn't envy if her situation hadn't been significantly worse at the moment.

"I'm sorry, commander, but I have my orders." Wolf insisted, advancing another step towards them. "And I am bringing you in."

Ahsoka tensed. There wasn't going to be a way out of here without a fight, was there? There were ten of them, she'd guessed right, all carrying DC-15 carbines except Wolf. It wasn't impossible for her and Ventress to take them down without killing them, but it would depend on how the troopers reacted. If they started backing up, they could start spraying stun rounds without worrying about friendly fire, more than two men doing that would definitely drop the two of them. That meant they had to move fast, keep them in close, like Ahsoka had when Ventress attacked her earlier. Silently, she signaled her intentions to the woman in the Force as best she could.

"Cuff 'em." Wolf barked, gesturing with one of his sidearms.

The trooper to his right stepped forward, pulling a pair of binders off his belt. Ahsoka held out her arms like she was going to comply, allowing the trooper walk up to her and take hold of her wrist. As he brought the binders down she made her move, twisting her arm out of the trooper's grip and grabbing onto his arm and the side of his chestplate. The clone let out a startled yelp as Ahsoka pulled him in close to her, using his body to absorb the stun rounds fired by his comrades as they realized what was happening and trusting Ventress to watch her back.

"Blast h…!" A trooper behind her started to yell only for the words to be lost in a pained grunt and the clatter of plastoid onto the pavement.

Taking the deecee out his hands, Ahsoka threw the limp body of the man she'd clung to away and into Wolf. The commander attempted to catch the unconscious trooper, only to be knocked off balance and backward into a street lamp, helmet impacting with a sharp crack before he slid to the ground as well.

 _Two down_ , Ahsoka thought, dodging to the left to avoid a stun round that just barely missed her arm. That left three more assuming Ventress could handle the other five on her own. Judging from what she could sense happening behind her, that was probably a safe assumption.

Ahsoka ducked a butt strike with a carbine and fired her own commandeered weapon point blank into the chest of the man who'd thrown it. Two more now, circling away from each other to try and catch her in a better crossfire. She rolled toward the closet one, putting her shoulder into his stomach as she stood up and knocking him flat onto his back. The other pivoted sharply on her, firing a rushed shot that still would have hit her head if she hadn't sensed it coming and dropped back down to a knee. Ahsoka put one into his chest before he could readjust, then another into the one on his back to make sure he stayed there

"Sorry." Ahsoka apologized quietly to the men as she stood, placing the carbine she'd taken on the ground.

She looked over her shoulder at Ventress, tossing aside a deecee of her own.

"See? Didn't kill one." The woman said gesturing to the unconscious troopers around her. "It's the new me."

"I'm so proud of you." Ahsoka said, rolling her eyes at the woman as she kicked blasters away from troopers' hands. "Now let's get out of here before another squad shows up."

"Come on then, this way." Ventress said, waving for her to follow. "I know a way that should keep us out of sight."

* * *

"Are you sure this was her, sir?" Vor said as Rip slowed the speeder to a stop outside the cordon the shocktroopers had set up along the deserted side street.

There weren't that many of them, maybe a dozen plus a CSF medic team, probably whatever other teams had already been in the area when Wolf had called it in. Ghes and his men had gotten lucky, they'd been less then ten clicks away and Tarkin hadn't ordered his men to switch frequencies since he'd cut Ghes out of the operation.

"Wolf said they'd found her and the follow up team reported no serious casualties." Ghes said, hopping out over the side of the vehicle. "That sounds a hell of a lot like Ahsoka to me."

"Still, sir," Vor continued, hopping out the other side. "taking out ten men without killing any of them is a bit much even for Commander Tano."

Much as Vor might have had a point, it wasn't one that was on the top of Ghes's list of priorities right now, not while Ahsoka was still out there. The shocktrooper who'd stopped them wasn't one he recognized, but the sergeant he turned to when Ghes handed him his ID card was, and the man waved them through.

"You boys wait here with the speeder." Ghes said to Vor, taking off his helmet and tucking it under his arm. "I'm going to go see what Commander Wolf has to say for himself."

Vor nodded in acknowledgement as Ghes turned and started walking toward the medical speeder around which most of the men he assumed were Wolf's clustered. The commander himself sat on in the opening of the rear compartment with one of the CSF medics looking him over. He shot Ghes a suspicious look as he approached, looking all the fiercer for the deep scar down the right side of his face and his silver prosthetic eye. This was another man Ghes didn't know, though he'd heard enough through the clone grapevine. He worked with the Kel Dor, General Plo Koon, which meant he probably knew Ahsoka.

"Commander Wolf?" Ghes asked as he stopped in front of the man.

"Who's asking?" The clone responded gruffly, still looking like he was trying to burn a hole through Ghes's _beskar_ with his gaze.

Ghes held out the same card he'd shown at the cordon, his GAR ID. He was walking a fine line here, he knew, but he didn't have much of a choice. There was a look of recognition in Wolf's eye as he read the card. The commander had heard of him, then, hopefully not from Fox or Tarkin. Ghes wouldn't put it past the admiral to have to have told his officers not to give him anything. He shelved that concern when Wolf tried to stand to salute him, something the medic treating him seemed very much against.

"Easy, soldier." Ghes said, gesturing for the man to remain seated. "I'm not here in any official capacity."

"Yes, sir…" Wolf said, clearly a little confused. "You're looking for Commander Tano, though?"

"I am." Ghes confirmed. Could have been a guess, but he wouldn't bet on it. "You expecting to see me?"

"Captain Rex said you were working in parallel to us." Wolf explained. "I just assumed it was still under GAR jurisdiction."

Ghes hadn't even known that Rex was part of the search, though, thinking about it now, he probably should have guessed. Skywalker and Plo Koon were running point on this from the Jedi end of things, so it made sense for their men to be involved. That was good for Ghes, it gave him another potential out if this went wrong.

"Well, I'm working on this from a different angle." Ghes continued. "Why don't you tell me how she got away?"

"Yes, sir." Wolf said, stiffening a little the way most troopers did when reporting anything. "Commander Tano wasn't alone like we expected her to be, sir, she had an accomplice."

"Do you know who it was?" Ghes asked, more than a little concerned. As far as he'd been able to tell, Ahsoka hadn't reached out to anyone since she'd gone on the run.

"I do." Wolf nodded, face hardening even more than usual as he spat the next two words out like they left a bad taste in his mouth. " _Assajj Ventress_."

Ghes didn't even try to hide his surprise at that one. Ventress was bad news; Separatist agent, extremely dangerous, standing orders to kill on site bad. From what Ahsoka had told him, she was also _dar'jetti_ , a Sith, like Dooku. Why Ahsoka would even think about working with her…, well, he couldn't think of any answer he liked.

"You're sure that's who it was, commander?" Ghes asked. "It couldn't have been anyone else?"

"I am absolutely sure, sir." Wolf answered. "It doesn't make much sense to me either, but I know that witch when I see her. She and Commander Tano disabled my men and fled, I didn't see which direction."

"None of your men were seriously injured, though?" Ghes said, thinking it was odd none of them had been killed given Ventress's reputation.

Wolf opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off before he could speak by the medic still standing next to him.

"I'd hardly call three concussions 'nothing serious'." The Duros said. "We really should take them to a medical center for brain scans…"

"I'm fine!" Wolf barked at the man, it was hard to tell with Duros but Ghes guessed from the voice he was male. "No, sir, they stunned most of us. Me and two others took blows to the head."

Ghes let out an aggravated sigh. None of this was making any sense. Why would Ventress go out of her way to avoid killing troopers? Why was she with Ahsoka? Why was she even on Coruscant? The worst part was, none of it left him with anything he could use. He had no new leads except Ventress, and what was he supposed to do with that? There probably weren't many Dathomiri on Coruscant, usually weren't many anywhere other than Dathomir, but that didn't do him much good even if they only searched this sector of the city.

"I'm sorry I can't give you anything more, sir." Wolf continued, picking up on Ghes's frustration.

"Not your fault, commander." Ghes responded, waving off the apology and turning to leave. "Make sure you and your men get checked out fully before you start searching again. You won't do anyone any good passed out in the street."

"Yes, sir." The trooper agreed begrudgingly as Ghes left him alone with the medic again and began making his way back to his men.

Back to square one, then. Or was it worse now that someone like Asajj Ventress was involved? Either way, it didn't leave him with anything to go on outside knowing that they'd been at this intersection roughly an hour ago. At least that cut down the search area a little. Assuming the two women were still on foot, there was only so far they could have gotten….

"Marczak!" A trooper's voice pulled him out of his thought, making him turn around to catch sight of Commander Fox storming toward him from the other end of the cordoned area.

"Fox." Ghes responded with a barely contained sigh as soon as the clone was close enough for him not to have to raise his voice to be heard.

Ghes'd suspected that a confrontation like this would be inevitable once he'd poked around long enough, but he'd hoped to be gone quick enough to avoid having it out with the Coruscant Guard commander here.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing here, Marczak?" Fox growled, getting right into it. Ghes had never known the man to be anything but blunt, even when it actively made his job more difficult. "Last time I checked you were not a member of this task force and not authorized access to any part of the operation."

"I'm not here as part of the Grand Army, Fox." Ghes said dismissively. "I'm here as a private citizen with a valid license to hunt bounties on Coruscant, which, since the Senate issued one for 'Togruta Jedi, female, orange skin, between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five' means I can ask any questions I want so long as I don't interfere with the carrying out of official business."

"That why you're still showing a GAR ID?" Fox shot back, clearly not amused by the little loophole Ghes was using.

"Most recent one I have." Ghes shrugged, just a hint of self-satisfied smarm slipping into his voice. "Been a bit busy the past couple years."

Fox let out a noise that was half a frustrated sigh and half the sort of growl one would expect from a pissed off strill.

"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish with all this, but it's not going to work." The trooper spat angrily, taking a step forward and resting his hands on the grips of his holstered pistols. "One way or another, we're bringing Commander Tano in."

"She's innocent." Ghes countered reflexively. He better squared himself up to Fox and rested his hand on his own weapon.

"You saw the same security tapes I did." The commander continued. "No one else was in that cell. You've been emotionally compromised, colonel, and you're the only one that can't see it."

Ghes set his jaw, just barely keeping himself from unleashing all of the considerable physical and verbal abuse he was capable of dishing out on the man in front of him. Part of him wondered if this was even Fox speaking or if the clone was just regurgitating something Tarkin had said. It certainly sounded like Tarkin, that man had probably never even smiled at his own mother.

"We're done here." Ghes growled, turning his back on Fox and stalking away. He couldn't trust himself enough not to do something he'd regret if he hung around much longer.

"Just stay out of the way, Marczak." Fox called after him. "Or else this is all going to get a lot worse."

Like hell I will, Ghes swore inwardly, pulling his helmet back on as he walked towards where Rip had parked their speeder next to an alley. What did Fox think he was going to be able to do to him? There wasn't a trooper on planet that'd lift a finger against him on Fox's orders, so unless he wanted a go at arresting him all by himself then Ghes didn't give a damn what he or Tarkin were threatening.

His men stood clustered in a circle just inside the alley next to their speeder when Ghes reached them.

"Sir." Vor greeted him over his shoulder, waving for him to come closer. "You're going to want to have a look at this."

"What'd you boys find all the way over here?" Ghes asked, genuinely curious as he walked over to join their little semi-circle. "Anything useful?"

"Don't know yet." Rip answered, stepping aside to let him in and gesturing to a skinny Rodian that was apparently the focus of the gathering. "Figured we should let you sort that out."

"Who's this?" Ghes queried, looking over the shorter, green, bug-eyed alien who shifted nervously from foot to foot as it eyed the five armored and heavily armed men surrounding it.

"Wouldn't give us a name." Vor answered for the creature. "Just said he had information we'd want to know."

"Did he, now?" Ghes said, eyeing the alien skeptically. "Alright, out with it then."

"A hundred credits." He said, about as gruffly as a Rodian could given their biology.

"What?" Ghes said, even though he was sure he'd heard him clearly. Everyone always wanted something on Coruscant, especially in the lower levels.

"You give me a hundred credits," The Rodian repeated, clearly trying its best to sound more confident than it felt. "I tell you where they went."

"They?" Niner asked under his breath.

"You saw where the Jedi went?" Ghes continued, ignoring the question for now. "Why didn't you tell the troopers?"

"They not going to pay me." The Rodian explained, shaking his head. "You after the bounty on Togruta, pay me so you can find her."

Ghes sighed. He probably could have guessed that one, honestly. Most beings in his experience seemed to be more motivated by credits than any civic duty to assist law enforcement. It was unofficial policy for a lot of CSF precincts in areas like this that detectives carry extra cash to help "motivate" witnesses. Honestly, the easiest thing to do most of the time was just pay them. But today…

Ghes ducked quickly and drove his fist into the Rodian's stomach before the little chaakar had time to realize what was happening, not hard enough to rupture any organs, but hard enough to knock the wind out him with a wheezing shriek. He followed up by grabbing the man by his thin neck and slamming him back into the wall of the alley.

"Sir!" Vor said, nearly as surprised by Ghes's sudden violence as the Rodian.

"Not now." He shot back at the trooper, leaning in close enough to the captive man that he could see a faint reflection of his buy'ce's faceplate in its large eyes. He lifted up his left arm next to his head, showing off the vobroblade he'd deployed from his gauntlet as it hummed softly just centimeters away from bare green skin.

"Please…" The Rodian squeaked pathetically, pupils flitting back and forth between the blade and the soulless black void of Ghes's visor.

"Tell me where they went. Now." Ghes said slowly, taking the time to enunciate every syllable.

"1315!" The Rodian shreiked. "A munitions warehouse, the Togruta said!"

Ghes held on for another thirty seconds after the man had finished speaking, letting the image of the blade a hair's breath away and the fear swimming through his mind at that moment embed itself.

"Go." He said finally, releasing the Rodian and watching as he tripped trying to get as far away from the Mando as fast as possible.

"That was unnecessary, sir." Vor said after the man disappeared around a corner into an adjoining alley.

"Come on." Ghes said, choosing not to acknowledge the point because he knew Vor was right. "We've got a lead."

There couldn't be more than one or two warehouses in this sector of the city that had ever been used to store munitions, he'd be willing to put money on it. They were getting close, Ghes could feel it, wouldn't be too much longer now.

 _Hold on, Ahsoka, I'm coming for you._

* * *

"There it is." Ventress said, nodding toward the darkened, bunker like building separated from it's neighbors on all sides by what looked like at least fifty meters. "Supposed to have been abandoned for years. What exactly are you supposed to find in here?"

"I'm not sure." Ahsoka admitted, scanning the surrounding streets for any sign Barriss was wrong about the warehouse not being under surveillance. "Barr… my contact, said Turmond was here a few times before the bombing."

"That's it?" Ventress sneered, looking at her skeptically. "That's your lead?"

"Do you have anything better?" Ahsoka countered.

Ventress let out an aggravated sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Hurry up then," She said, waving Ahsoka on. "only a few more hours until morning. I'll wait here and keep watch."

"It'll be faster with two of us." Ahsoka pointed out insistently, wondering why Ventress seemed to want to make this difficult.

"And if you're not the only one that got this 'lead'?" The older woman countered. "Do you want to come out and find the place surrounded?"

"Fine." Ahsoka huffed. This argument wasn't worth wasting time on. "Wait here, this won't take long."

Ventress had been right about one thing, the place looked like it hadn't been in use for at least a few years. The front offices seemed to have been stripped of most of their furnishings, and every surface was covered in a thick layer of dust, lit only by feint red emergency lights that seemed to be built into the ceiling at regular intervals. If she had to guess based on where it was, Ahsoka would have said this warehouse had probably belonged to one of the weapons suppliers for the small, pre-war Judicial Forces fleet that was the only standing fighting force the Republic had had for something like a thousand years. With the Judicials folded into the GAR and a drastically increased demand for the sorts of resources needed to fight a war, most of the old infrastructure had been abandoned in favor of the newer, larger scale facilities that had been built closer to the new fleetyard.

The facility Ahsoka found herself searching had been fairly sized by those pre-war standards; five levels, reinforced and compartmentalized, each room with heavy durasteel racks probably capable of storing thousands upon thousands of crates of munitions of various types used aboard the patrol corvettes that had been the Judicial Navy's mainstay. Or, at least, that's what she would have guessed would have been here when the place was still in use. Now, though, while there were still a few empty crates left behind in the first few rooms she checked, it seemed like the warehouse was exactly what it appeared to be from the outside, abandoned.

 _Ventress was right, this is a waste of time_ , Ahsoka began to think as she made her way up to the second level, _How am I supposed to find a clue when I don't know what I'm looking for?_

The second level was a little different from the first, a little more open and bisected by a series of large conveyor belts that had probably been used to move heavier crates without the hassle of loadlifters. She was half way through and about ready to write this level off as empty when she spotted something interesting, what looked like… footprints.

Yes, they were footprints, coming out of a narrow opening in a wall that was probably a maintenance access. They only represented a few steps, like whoever had left them had stepped in a puddle of oil or grease, but they looked recent.

 _Interesting_ , Ahsoka thought, kneeling down and touching the smudged impression of a boot tread with the tips of her fingers. Dry, so not from the past few hours, probably longer considering these floors hadn't been cleaned in years. She stood back up and wiped her hand off on her pant leg, following the direction the short trail led in with her gaze. That would narrow her search a little.

A quick peek inside the opening revealed what she'd expected, a narrow space filled with exposed piping Ahsoka mentally tagged for further investigation later before turning her attention to what remained of this level in the direction whoever had left those footprints had been headed. The first room she checked seemed immediately off. There were more crates left in here than there had been anywhere else she'd checked, most of the ones closer to her being very obviously empty because they'd been opened and stacked rather haphazardly along the first couple of shelves in a way that blocked her view of the room beyond them.

Pretty confident that this wasn't how this room had been left when the warehouse had been emptied, Ahsoka decided to investigate further. Most of the levels of the rack behind the first were similarly filled with crates laid purposely so anyone looking would immediately see they were empty, but while the bottom shelf had a few of these as well, there were five crates that appeared to still be sealed.

Further inspection revealed that not only was this the case, but these crates were also of a slightly different make than the others Ahsoka had seen left behind by the warehouse's previous occupant. Acting on a hunch, Ahsoka slung her pack off her back and reached inside, removing one of her lightsabers from the bundle of clothes inside. Pulling one of the suspicious crates off the shelf with the Force, she activated her weapon's blade and quickly but carefully burned through the container's locking mechanism. Powering down her saber and placing the hilt on the ground beside her, she slowly lifted the lid off the container. Inside were around two dozen vials packed neatly into a foam tray, probably the first of many judging by the depth of the container.

Taking one vial out of the tray to examine it, she looked closely at what appeared to be like millions of grains of metallic silt just barely big enough for her to see floating in a clear solution.

"Nano droids…" Ahsoka whispered, barely realizing she was saying it out loud.

So this had been where Turmond had gotten them, or at least where they'd been stored before they'd been given to her. It must have been her mysterious accomplice's footprints she'd found, checking to make sure these were still here. Where these five all there were? If they were, there was still enough ordnance here for a hundred attacks like the Temple bombing. What was whoever was behind this planning…?

A sudden sense of another presence nearby broke her attention away from the vile and it's implications. Whoever it was, they were close, but they were also disguising their presence.

"Ventress?" Ahsoka called out, guessing the former Sith assassin had followed her after all. "What do you want? Did someone from CSF show up?"

When Ventress didn't answer, Ahsoka stood up and poked her head out into the aisle between the side of the shelving units and the wall. There she was, standing in the entrance to the room, wearing her helmet again for some reason.

"What?" Ahsoka asked, more than a little annoyed by woman's refusal to answer her the first time. "What do you want?"

Ventress ended up answering the question without saying anything, all she needed to do was activate her lightsabers.

Ahsoka reacted quickly, grabbing her own lightsaber from the ground where she'd left it with the Force and bringing it up just in time to block the Sith woman as she leaped at her.

"Uhh!" Ahsoka grunted, falling backward hard from the force of the attack. She looked up past the three blades into the expressionless vision slit of Vemtress's helmet and bared her teeth. "You witch!"

She kicked the woman off of her and rolled to her feet, immediately going on the offensive. Ventress blocked the flurry of strikes and retreated back toward the entrance.

"What?!" Ahsoka snarled after her. "You already regretting trying this again?!"

Still silent, the woman gestured up with one hand at the shelving unit Ahsoka was now standing next to.

"No!" Ahsoka yelled, throwing her hands up instinctually to stop the avalanche of crates she knew was coming.

But it was a feint, while she stabilized the shelf against Ventress's influence, the witch deactivated the saber in her other hand and threw the hilt.

Ahsoka was vaguely aware of the sharp pain of the curved metal cylinder striking her in the temple before her vision suddenly went dark.

* * *

Ghes held his pistol close to his chest as he crept through what had once been the warehouse's front offices. This was the place, it had to be, the only place within a hundred klicks on this level that had ever been used to produce or store munitions. At least legally, anyway.

"Office's clear." Ghes said quietly into his helmet com, more out of habit then necessity. "First floor looks clear on thermal, moving to the stairwell."

"Roger." Vor answered dutifully. "We're still clear out here, sir."

Ghes'd left the four clones outside to watch the perimeter and keep the speeder running. Probably not the greatest plan given he didn't really know what he might be walking into, but he also didn't want to put them at risk with an unknown like Ventress in play. His _beskar_ could and would stop a lightsaber, but, while the armor _buir_ bought for his men was as good as anything on the private market, it was still just plastoid. Besides, thermal imaging and all the other fancy mods in his _buy'ce_ made up for a lot as far any disadvantage he had going in alone, probably as much as the Force if you didn't mind the extra weight, years of getting used to the interface, and not being able to throw shit around with your mind.

"Sir, we have a problem." Vor came again over the com as Ghes was stepping out of the stairwell onto the second floor. "Somebody must have seen something and tipped off CSF, because we've got GAR tactical teams enroute."

"Here?" Ghes asked, heading towards a feint thermal signature barely visible on his HUD through a reinforced wall.

"Sounds like it." Vor confirmed.

"Of course…" Ghes grumbled under his breath. "Stand by and keep posted. I think I have something."

So either they weren't as far behind the two women as he'd thought or CSF was being especially slow sharing information today. Either way he was on a clock now, it wouldn't take a tactical team from the nearest barracks more then fifteen minutes to get here, less than that if they'd had teams standing by in the area supporting the search. He'd bet on the later.

"Ahsoka?" Ghes called out, switching off thermal and turning on the small lights built into his bucket.

He found out why she hadn't answered when he rounded the corner into the room where he'd seen the signature.

"Ahsoka!" He yelled dropping his sidearm into his holster and rushing to were she laid in a heap next to the second shelving unit in the row. He knelt beside her and brushed a lekku aside to check her pulse, still strong. She was just unconscious.

"Vor, I've got her." Ghes grunted into his com as he picked Ahsoka up off the ground and slung her over his shoulders. He found one of her lightsabers under her and clipped it onto his belt. "She's unconscious, I'm not sure from what. There's a medkit under the front passenger's seat…"

"Got it." Vor answered. "Do you want us to pull up to the door?"

"Negative." Ghes ordered, starting back toward the stairwell as fast as he was willing to move with Ahsoka on his back. "Stay back until I signal you. I don't want you chased down for fleeing the scene if someone shows up. See you in five."

"Roger." Vor confirmed. "We'll be ready."

Ghes owed a lot to those men, he had even before this, even before he'd met Ahsoka. Between the four of them they'd saved his _shebs_ more times than he could count, even Niner had a few times in the little under a year he'd been with the battalion. After all that, he hadn't had any right to asked them to put themselves on the line like they were helping him.

"I don't deserve those boys anymore than I deserve you, _cyar'ika_." Ghes said aloud. "You're going to have to help me think of a way to pay them back when we get out of this."

He missed the ETA he'd given Vor trying to get back through the front offices with Ahsoka on his shoulders, having to sidestep through the doors and through parts of the hallway adding about another minute.

 _Almost there_ , he thought, breathing a sigh of relief as he finally reached the small reception area that led out onto the street. "Vor, I'm ready for pickup."

"On our way. Rip, pull around to…" The trooper began before abruptly falling silent.

"Vor?"

"Sir," He responded after another moment. "We've got incoming!"

As if on cue, the thrumming of dropship repulsor engines found its way to Ghes through the thin transparisteel barrier of the warehouse door, followed a moment later by the glare of searchlights dancing across the street beyond.

No, no, this wasn't right. He had Ahsoka, he'd found her, they were about to be home free…

"Vor!" Ghes shouted into his com, turning on his heel and heading back deeper into the building. He pulled up a copy of the schematic from the public records office on his HUD. "There's a fire exit around back, I'm going to try and meet you there. If I'm not out in ten minutes I want you to go to ground until I contact you."

"Sir, if you think we're going to…"

"I'm not asking, lieutenant!" He snapped. "Going silent until then, Marczak out."

Okay, then, everything was fine, Ghes could still salvage this, could still get Ahsoka out of here. All he had to do was find a clearly marked fire exit at the other end of the warehouse, not that difficult. He'd gotten out of worse situations; Yavin, Geonosis, that blurg stampede on Ryloth, those had all been way worse, right? Compared to any of that this should be a walk in the park, hell, Ahsoka didn't weigh half what Rip had when he'd carried him twenty clicks out of that bug nest they'd gotten lost in. There wasn't even anyone out to kill them this time…

He saw the beams of light coming from around the corner before he saw the troopers themselves, five of them, he guessed, grouped tightly together as they moved through the tunnel that was supposed to have been his escape route.

 _No_ , Ghes thought, looking around for somewhere he could duck into or something he could hide behind. But this area in the rear of the building had been a loading bay back when the place had been operating, wide open except for a few support columns too narrow to do him any good.

"Freeze!" The first trooper around the corner screamed, immediately homing in on him. "Grand Army of the Republic! Hands where I can…"

The clone stopped suddenly, blinding Ghes with his light so he only barely saw the rest of the team fanning out into a wedge behind their leader as they came out into the bay.

"Colonel Marczak?"

"Sergeant Kain." Ghes answered, pulling the name out almost as soon as his HUD tagged the man's CT number. "Long time no see."

There, something he could work with. Kain had been with the Coruscant Guard from the beginning, part of the original tac teams he'd help retrain for their new policing mission. A man he knew, a man that trusted him.

"What are you doing here, sir?" The Sergeant asked, switching off his light.

"I tracked Commander Tano here." Ghes bluffed, bouncing Ahsoka a little on his shoulders. "She was unconscious when I found her, but I think whoever did this might still be here. Can you get your men to start clearing…?"

"Our orders are to take the fugitive in." The trooper to Kain's right interrupted.

"Thanks, trooper, but I think I can handle her." Ghes said, forcing as much humor as he could into his voice.

"Sir, I'm afraid we can't let you…"

"Calm down, two-seven." Kain ordered, waving for his men to lower their weapons. "The colonel is one of ours."

"But, sarge," Another spoke up, keeping his carbine trained on Ghes. "the commander said…"

"I know what the commander said!" Kain snapped back, then sighed. "Listen, you boys weren't around back then…"

"That traitor killed six men, sarge!" The first trooper shouted, gesturing toward Ahsoka with his weapon. "You can't just let this guy walk out of here with her!"

"You don't know…"

"Screw this, I'm calling it in!" The second trooper said defiantly, pressing a hand to the side of his helmet. "Command, this is Delta-three, we have target and are moving to extract."

Ghes closed his eyes and sighed quietly behind his helmet's faceplate. So that was it then, no trying to talk his way out of here.

"Dammit, Sy!" Kain swore at the man. He let out a growling mixture of anger and resignation and stepped forward. "I'm sorry, sir, but we're going to have to take Commander Tano."

For a long second, Ghes just looked at the men, the sergeant he knew and the four troopers he didn't. The Westar heavy blaster pistol on his hip felt heavier than usual, heavier than it ever had. It was a powerful weapon, powerful enough to punch clean through plastoid inside ten meters like it wasn't even there. He could have it out in less than half a second, would barely even have to aim. All the beings he'd killed, what was adding a few more, really…

He could feel her breathing, even through his armor he swore he could. Maybe it was just the Force, or his mind playing tricks on him, it didn't matter. She was there with him, she was alive, her fate hanging on what he decided to do next.

And he knew in that moment that he could do it, would do it. Knew that he could live with the guilt of knowing he'd traded the lives of five innocent men just to save hers. Even if that meant she'd want nothing to do with him afterwards.

As that silent second turned into first two, then three, the muscles in his arm tensed in preparation for what he was growing increasingly certain was going to come next…

 _No_.

And, in that instant, he let the tension go.

 _No_ , some part of him repeated from deep within his mind, _Ahsoka wouldn't want this._

That was it, wasn't it? No matter how willing he was in that moment to cross a line, how much the love he felt for her drove him to do anything to protect her, how willing he was to live with that decision, she wouldn't be. And he didn't have the right to force that decision on her.

"It's okay, sergeant…" He relented finally; despite how much the words tore at his heart as he said them. "You boys are just doing your job."

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Ha, told you I could do two updates within six months of each other.

Seriously, though, this was the longest chapter I've written so far by a significant margin, something like twenty


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